


He came like an oncoming Storm

by Luca_Crimson



Series: Stigma of the Wind [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Hermione Granger, BAMF Minerva McGonagall, BAMF goblins, Because Hermione is ten times worse, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Dark Harry, Dark but not Evil Harry, Did I say Harry had a dirty mouth?, Genderfluid Character, Good Malfoy Family, Harry Potter is Hermione Granger's sassy gay friend, Harry Potter is a Good Friend, Harry Potter is a Little Shit, Magically Powerful Harry, Manipulative Dumbledore, Multi, Mythological References, Powerful Hermione, Ravenclaw Hermione Granger, Salazar is so done with people's shit, Sassy Harry, Slytherin Harry, Smart Harry, Snarky Harry, Wrong Boy-Who-Lived, and so is Snape, at least I think they're not, but - Freeform, but they aren't gay, kickass grandma Minerva McGonagall, like a lot, popcultural references, rated "T" because Harry has a potty mouth, the Goblins would also be sassy gay friends, they still save the day however
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 15:17:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 44,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6571279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luca_Crimson/pseuds/Luca_Crimson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived story. I love these kinds of stories, because it allows the author (in this case: me) to make Harry extremely powerful and let some very famous characters (Merlin, the Founders, Death, Magic... you get the gist) have a part in the plot as well without messing the Universe up too much. I decided to write this fic and see how far I can get with new or seldomly used ideas. If however this story reminds you too much of another story, please comment on it (so I can fix it) and rest assured that it was completely unintentional. However to make sure that I did not unknowingly copied other people's ideas, I need YOU (yes YOU!!!) to read this story. This way I can train my writing, get some feed back and you - the reader - get to have a bit of entertainment (because while WBWL is kind of a guilty pleasure in this fandom it is a pleasure nonetheless and rather popular if you take a look at how common this trope is, just saying).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue – “Earth” by Hans Zimmer (from “Man of Steel”)

**Author's Note:**

> Rewatched Kaze no Stigma, got inspired by Kazuma's monologue, wanted to write a fic about it + I want to write a WBWL with some new ideas and practical jokes fic and this happened... This is not a cross over, considering that it is just the monologue and the power source that are similar.  
> I will announce any references and triggers at the start of each chapter.  
> PLEASE READ THE END NOTES.

Lord Voldemort, formerly known as Tom Marvolo Riddle junior, stepped away from the unconscious body of James Potter. He hoped to ask the man some questions once he woke again, but right now he had a more important task.

Lily Potter fell just as easy as her husband, forcing the Dark Lord to step over her unconscious form towards the crib, where the two babes lay. One of them was prophesized to vanquish him, but which? The elder twin, Daniel, had been born on July 31st at 11:55 pm. His spy had told him how the boy loved creating visions and spectres that could keep him entertained for hours, oh yes he had that stupid rat collect some information that might clue him as to which of the twins would have to meet his demise, for he – Voldemort – did not condone unnecessary killings of children.

He threw another look at the older brother, Pettigrew had mentioned the boys caring attitude. Despite his young age Daniel seemed to have a love for any and every living being, his connection to everything alive most likely derived from the forest elf blood the Potters were rumoured to have. His looks matched such an assumption as he had inherited his mother’s blazing red hair and forest green eyes, which filled with fear when Voldemort met their gaze. Daniel’s magic was like a light house, basking everything in white magic. Oh, yes Daniel James Potter had power, power enough to become a Light Lord when the time arrived but not enough power to truly be the one to defeat him.

So Voldemort turned to the younger sibling, Hadrian Zephyrus Potter, born on the 31st of July exactly a second before Midnight and the start of August 1st. He had inherited his father’s unruly black hair and skin as pale as freshly fallen snow. The Rat had not been able to find out much about this twin because the boy avoided Pettigrew and became incredibly fussy when held by the rodent. Wormtail could only tell of one instance where he had been able to witness the boy use magic to float his brother to the ground when said brother had followed a butterfly over the edge of the balcony. They only knew it had been Hadrian’s magic because the boy had been guiding the aiding wind – which had rescued his brother – with his little arms. Other cases of Hadrian showing accidental magic also included wind and sometimes even storms. However they could not be confirmed by Pettigrew as he had not been there to witness them.

Voldemort took another look at the dark haired boy, who had his face turned to his now quivering brother. Annoyed at being ignored – and knowing that his reaction was beyond childish – Voldemort clicked his tongue. Jade almond shaped eyes snapped to him, giving him a look that – on a grown up face – would have meant something between “Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me? Don’t give me that crap!” and “Can’t you see that I am busy with more important matters?”. Shocked to receive such a dirty look from a child Voldemort forgot his irritation and simply stared some more. The babe’s magic formed a protective cocoon around his elder sibling, dimming the blindingly light magic down into a perfect grey. Other swirls of magic brushed against the Dark Lord’s, surprising him once more: The boy was dark, darker than black, darker than anything he had seen before. His aura was like a winter night and if you looked long enough you could see spots of light magic scattered over the boy’s magical core like the stars across the sky.

Yes, this boy, not even a toddler yet, had the potential to defeat him. He looked into jade eyes. And he felt incredibly guilty for having to end this child’s life before he even got a chance to live it. “You must know that I do not want to do this. Shedding magical blood is the worst crime possible in my eyes, especially if the magical is innocent, but I have to win this war. At any cost. So, please believe my when I say: I am sorry but I cannot risk my goals in order to let you live.” And he felt like a liar. He knew that there had to be another way but it mattered not. Slowly he raised his wand setting it against Hadrian’s forehead, jade eyes full of understanding resignation, or so it seemed to him.

“Avada Kedavra”

And the world went white.

_“’Tis better to have loved and lost_

_Than to have never loved at all.”_

_Alfred Lord Tennyson_

Lily Potter woke up. It was no slow process but a sudden awakening. Bile rose in her throat, her stomach was cramping. She started coughing up not only her last meal but blood as well. After what seemed like hours, her body stopped shaking and finally let her have a breath. Nauseated she banished her stomach’s contents and the blood, sinking to the ground. She lay there for a few short moments, gathering herself before she sat up again, looking around.

The room was in ruins. Broken wood and debris everywhere, it seemed like the roof had caved in, miraculously missing her and the crib. The crib! Voldemort! Her precious babies!

Her nausea must have been forgotten somewhere between “crib” and “Voldemort”, because she jumped up, leaping towards the crib. There they were, both pairs of eyes looking up at her. Daniel’s warm leaf green eyes were teary, he must have been terribly afraid. There was a cut that started on the back of his nose and ran over his cheek, another, much thinner cut started on the right side of Daniel’s forehead, cutting his right eyebrow in half, running over his eyelid (where the cut had ran over the eye the iris bled red) and continuing towards his jaw, meeting with the first cut right above the cheekbone.

There were several other, jaggy cuts across Daniel’s face and neck, none of them were lethal or even life-threatening, all of them were on his right side. As an aspiring healer, Lily knew that most of them had come from a splintered curse, however she also knew how to make them vanish. Soon enough, all cuts but the crossed ones on Daniel’s face were gone. The thin cut over the eye had been inserted with most of the dark curse, some of the foreign magic bleeding into the other cut that had been created by a wayward piece of wood. Unfortunately she could not make the “X”-shaped scar on her son’s face disappear, the dark magic being too strong for her to overcome. She could simply close the wounds and numb the pain.

Harry looked much calmer than Daniel. He sat to his brother’s right. Lily stopped. She knew of the prophecy, though Dumbledore had been very vague about its content… If her gut instinct did not betray her, Voldemort had come tonight to kill one of her precious babies. The thought alone let her shudder, on a rational basis she may have even understood the Dark Lord’s reasoning, but these were her babies, no one not even some all-powerful Dark Lord HURT! HER! BABY-BOYS! She grasped them both tightly, whispering assurances in their ears, telling them that this would never ever happen again. Never! Not on her watch, not ever!

Daniel tangled his chubby little fingers in her hair, slowly falling into sleep. Harry stayed awake, looking at her with turquoise eyes that slowly dimmed to jade again. Lily took a blanket from the crib, wrapping Daniel in it and sat him into her lap. She took Harry up by the arm pits looking at him. He had sat at his brother’s right side, the side the curse splinters had come from. A bleeding cut, brimming with dark magic – and something else, something even more dangerous – was on his forehead, covered by his unruly fringe. With great care, as to not hurt her baby, she brushed the dark bangs aside, revealing a lightning bolt shaped wound on her younger son’s forehead. Or at least, that was what most amateurs would have thought. Lily however had graduated at the top of her “Ancient-Runes” class and knew that the cut was not a lightning bolt, but a “Sigel” or “Sol” rune, a rune that usually meant “s”. The rune itself had been abused by the Germans during Hitler’s regime. But originally it symbolised “victory”. A small smile grazed the witch’s features. Her little boy had been faced with He-who-must-not-be-named and won. Not only that, he still must have had enough magic left to protect her and Daniel from the crashing roof. A sad look overtook her features, Harry had even tried to warn them about Peter’s betrayal…

She closed the cut, leaving a nasty scar, she would have to let the goblins take a look at that later on. Harry still stared at her, in that steady way of his. Lily pressed her nose into his hair that always exuded the scent of air after a long rainfall. Or the smell of a crisp, starry winter night. Clean and pure. “I am proud of you!” She whispered into his hair, knowing he could understand her, he always could, “And no matter what happens in the next few days, know that I will always love you. Always!”

At this point James and Dumbledore burst in. Lily only needed to take one look at James to know something was fundamentally wrong. But what was it?

“Lily, my girl, what happened?” Dumbledore asked in his usual grandfatherly tone, the tone she knew to be fake for years now. Still as long as she did not know what exactly was going on, she better pretended to be as clueless as he portrayed himself to be, it would help her figure out his true intentions (And no, that was not a Slytherin tactic, Sev!).

“I don’t know really. I saw Voldemort raise his wand and in the next moment I wake up with him gone, the room in ruins and my two babies covered in cuts.” At that James gasped “Is Daniel alright?”

Why would he ask about Daniel first? Lily wondered. While she knew that James loved both of the twins dearly, he had this soft spot for Harry, who was younger and more of fragile health than Daniel, causing James to go all out into over-protective-father-mode whenever he was concerned. So that was what had been wrong. Dumbledore – because who else would it be? – must have placed some sort of mind-manipulation on her husband, for whatever reason.

“Yes. They are both alright…” Lily let her voice fade when Dumbledore stepped into her personal space, analysing the twins.

“I think it is safe to say that Daniel was the one to save us all, look, he has these horrible markings and his magic shines brighter than the summer sun. Hadrian however is riddled with dark magic, probably residue from the curse that rebounded off of Daniel. His magical core must not have been strong enough to overcome the little rest of Voldemort’s magic.” Lily snorted internally, so that was his plan, make them believe Harry was a squib and that Daniel was their only child to deserve attention. And his reasoning? Did the man even listen to himself?

“So Harry’s a squib?” James asked. Yup, he was under mind-control alright. _Her_ James would not say something like this, especially about his youngest son or any of his two sons whom he both adored beyond anything.

“I am afraid so, we should just relieve him by sealing the rest of the little magic he has-” Lily cleared her throat, instantly gaining their attention. Well, then Lily, now or never: “Maybe it’s just because of the emotional trauma of being face to face with the You-Know-Who that Harry is like this. Would it not be more prudent for us to send him away to a suitable location and if he shows accidental magic we collect him on his 11th birthday and reintroduce him to the wizarding world? That way he would also not have to grow up jealous of Daniel’s fame, I mean, he will be famous, won’t he? He just saved the world from V-Voldemort!” Oh dear mother magic, the reasoning that had sounded beyond stupid in her head sounded even more stupid spoken out loud. But the twinkle in Dumbledore’s eyes told her how delighted the man was by her idea.

“Of course, I think your sister’s family would make a wonderful place for him to grow up.” Lily smiled gratefully but on the inside she was burning with rage, with fury. Dumbledore was trying to make sure Harry grew up abused. She knew that the elderly man thought that abuse would make children meek and mouldable, how wrong he was! Her angry side started cackling in glee, oh no, abused children were far from meek and mouldable. They were cunning, sneaky and very good at reading people, they did not trust easily and were extremely ambitious, resourceful and scheming, mainly to make sure that they stayed as far away from their tormentors as possible.

“Can I…” Lily made her voice break “Can I say good-bye to him? So we can bring him to Petunia’s tomorrow? Just for this night?” She tried to look as pitiable as possible – which was not overly hard to do, she still was covered in sawdust and glass shards. Dumbledore’s twinkle dimmed a bit but he still agreed and left the room with James.

James, who was still under the influence of whatever brain-washing method the old goat had used. Lily turned to Harry. “I know you heard what I said. I am sorry, love, this must sound ridiculous to your ears. First I claim to love you, then I propose to give you away. But you have to know: Dumbledore is a very bad man and he will stop at nothing until the magical world is under his control. He probably wants Daniel to get killed by Voldemort and then defeat that snaky bastard. And then he will try to form you into the new Dark Lord, so when the time comes he can defeat you and the ones after you. That is the way he will slowly take over our world, my darling. So if there is any chance of me preventing that, I have to take it. And my best bet right now is to get you away from him as far as possible, without him realizing it. Petunia will be horrible, no, worse than that. She will call you disgusting things and her husband and son will insult you, maybe even beat you. But I cannot come with you, for I love James as well. I love him so much it sometimes confuses even me, because he was so horrible in his youth. But now he changed, heck he even apologized to Severus and he is just so… I love him. And while I love you too, I wish to stay with James, because I hope to be able to help him here.”

She started crying at that. How could she tell her child that his father was more important? A small cold hand reached out to streak her cheek. Jade eyes told of understanding and agreement. Lily smiled through her tears. Of course. Harry could understand her, he always could, and although he sometimes disapproved of her decisions, he respected them. He understood. How much this tore her apart, how much she wanted nothing more than to flee with her kids. But he also knew how much she needed to stay with their father. Lily cried even more at that. Through her tears she continued: “So I want you two remember two things: You will not die, for you have something they have not: Magic. Magic is your friend, Harry, if you ask it will help you. And the second thing is: I love you. And James loves you too, he just doesn’t know that anymore because Dumbledore used evil – not dark, mind you, but evil – curses on him. But we both will love you, always. So if anything indicates something different, know that it is not us talking but Dumbledore’s evil sorcery.” She kissed his forehead, right above the scar, hoping to soothe the incredible pain her child must be in.

That way she sat with her boys until the morning, gently rocking them, telling them over and over how much she loved them both.

 

TBC


	2. Main Title” by Danny Elfman (from “Spiderman”)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eyes as blue as the azure sky, that is the symbol of the Contractor. Entrusted by the Spirit King of the Wind with the power of his domain. I bear this mark. The Stigma of the Wind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING There is no gore but a lot of blood. And Verbal and Physical abuse. Vaguely referencing BBC’s “Merlin”

The seven year old Harry Potter smelled the blood before he saw it. And when saw it was scarlet red, washing over white tiles, soaking the hem of his trousers, climbing up his legs. He was drowning, sinking into the sea of red. And then he fell.

Time turned backwards, memories flashing by.

_“So, you freak cannot even do simple chores right! I will teach you to do mistakes!”_

_“How dare you do better on the test than Dudley? You ungrateful piece of garbage!” Spit flew into his face…_

_“What kind of freaky, unnatural thing are you doing? What if the neighbours saw? What if you have sullied Dudley’s perfect mind with your disgraceful…abilities?” the word “abilities” was pronounced like other people said “Child Pornography” or “Rape”._

_“Did you think we would waste valuable food on the likes of you? Never! You will get our leftovers! Now go back to cleaning the kitchen!”_

_“Here these are the new clothes you pestered us for, they are Dudley’s old ones, so you better be grateful!”_

_“I” – SMACK - “WILL NOT” - PUNCH -“HAVE” – KICK -  “SUCH” - SLAP - “FREAKISHNESS” – SMACK - “IN” – PUNCH - “MY” – KICK - “HOUSE” – SLAP- Repeat._

_“Harry, never forget: I love you.”_

A beefy hand grabbed him by the collar, yanking him upwards.

 

_“Because you have something they do not have”_

“It’s your fault she is like that, freak! You broke her, now you fix her!” Spit sprayed into Harry’s face. “FIX HER!” Harry shut his eyes, hoping to avoid getting spit in them.

_“You have magic.”_

His uncle was still raging on. Pointlessly as far as Harry was concerned. Vernon had seen Petunia hand her nephew a glass of water, since he had been about to keel over from weeding the garden in the summer heat. Enraged Vernon had struck her with a knife, blaming Harry for it. Instead of calling and ambulance however – as should have been the sensible course of action – his uncle had started beating Harry up.

_Magic_

Right. Magic. He remembered. How his mother practically sacrificed herself to somehow keep him and his brother and father safe. Magic. He remembered. How to call upon his power.

Blades of Wind turned wood, glass, china and fabric into fine dust. With howling blasts the remains of the living room and kitchen blew outwards onto the lawn. The walls started to crack, crumbling under the air pressure like transparent paper. Winds started dancing around the house, creating a Tornado of pulverized furniture and roof tiles. The whole roof truss was lifted off the house itself and was torn apart by the raging storm. Wind blew into every room razing the still standing walls to the ground.

In all of that chaos, Harry’s body slowly rose up, carried by the winds. His eyes had turned into pools of azure.

_“Anthem of the World” by Future World Music_

Harry stood in a wondrous place. Behind him was an artfully crafted silver door, about ten times as tall as he was. The gate stood in the middle of a mirror like, perfectly even, surface. There was nothing else to see but the azure sky and the snow white clouds. The light seemed to come from everywhere and there was no sun to be seen.

Carefully Harry stepped away from the door which seemed to be the centre of this place, there was no wall it was connected to, it was just a massive silver door in the middle of wherever this place was (on top of his list of possible answers was “nowhere” but he wasn’t going to paint it black completely… yet).

Harry kneeled on the ground, feeling utterly exhausted all of a sudden, without knowing why. The kneeling however presented him with another very interesting fact: His normally green eyes now shone with a pulsing azure light. Instinctively he brought up a hand towards his face, not being able to grasp this new piece of information.

“It is surprising seeing it the first time, is it not?” Harry looked up. A man clad in black clothes looked back. The stranger had dark hair, page cut, was very pale and the same glowing blue eyes as Harry.

“Where are my manners: The name is Merlin, what’s yours?”

“Hadrian Zephyrus Potter” Harry ventured carefully, the Dursleys might not have been the most ideal guardians (And the understatement of the year goes tooooooooo: Harry Potter!) but they had at least told him not to go home with strangers and not cross when the traffic light shone red.

“Nice name. I have to ask though, what time do you come from?” at Harry’s questioning look he continued: “I mean what year are you currently living in?”

“2007” (AN: in this timeline Harry Potter was born in 2000, please, just …go with it)

“Woah! That old man sure is picky.” Harry raised a single eyebrow (a little trick that had taken him hours to learn, but Merlin did not need to know that).

“Ok how do I explain this, because you are even younger than I was and I most certainly did not get it at the time… Well, for starters you should know that there are spirit kings. One for each of the seven elements light, dark, fire, lighting, earth, water and wind. Each of these kings has a “domain” in which they dwell in. They choose a person worthy of their power as their contractor, for an unknown reason but I strongly suspect it is their main source of entertainment to watch mortals try to handle the power of immortals. Does this make sense so far?”

Harry nodded: “Seven Spirit kings, one contractor for each. The contractor can use the powers of their Spirit King, so I guess it probably allows them some sort of elemental control?”

Merlin grinned. “Exactly. So there are some contractors where the person in question remains unaware of their status and they simply are more adept at spells that feature their respective element. However there are the contractors who “awaken”. The “Awakening” allows them to freely use their element’s power. After the Awakening the contractor bears a mark, the so-called “Stigma”, which identifies him as an elemental magic user, to others. The second step of the awakening is to visit the Spirit King’s domain. Right now we are in the Wind domain, as we – and only we – have been chosen by the Spirit King of the Wind to be entrusted with his power. Fortunately for us our stigma is something that can easily be hidden: Blue eyes, or rather “eyes as blue as the azure sky”.”

“Okay, so you and I have control over the wind.”

“Rather anything air related. We can create winds, clouds and storms, but are able to stop them as well. With some practise you may even be able to fly without a broomstick.”

“Wow. This all sounds like some weird fantasy movie or something, how can I know this is all real? And not just in my head?”

“Well, of course this is all happening in your head, Hadrian, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

“Huh?” With this Harry was pulled from the Wind domain and into the most comfortable bed he had ever laid in.

_Sometimes, you just have to jump out of the window_

_And grow wings on the way down._

_Ray Bradbury_

He was greeted by two unknown faces. Both were male but he could not see much without his glasses.

“Here, let me fix that.” Said one of them and suddenly everything slowly focused. In sight came two young men, maybe in their mid-twenties.

The one who had fixed his eyes had long straight black hair and golden eyes that seemed cold and calculating. The man’s features had something East Asian to them, but he had a straight roman nose. “A simple spell to fix myopia, unfortunately it is illegal these days…”

“You most certainly are a show off Sal,” said the other stranger. “Don’t mind him. His ego needs constant attention because it would implode otherwise.” This man had vivid red hair and tanned skin that spoke of long hours of working outside. His bright green eyes were beyond expressive, showing the underlying fondness while teasing the other.

“I will not tolerate this slander of my person! I have no need for ego, I am simply very talented!” Golden eyes flashed in anger, but also some amusement.

The redhead leaned down to Harry: “See what I mean?” earning a soft giggle from the boy and a huff from his … partner?

Harry studied the two closely, they knew each other very well, if their interaction meant anything. While the two kept on bickering about everything under the sun, Harry scanned his surroundings.

The room was elegantly furnished. Smooth dark oak floorboards stretched far and the ceiling arched high above, like in a gothic cathedral. The walls and ceiling were covered in frescos of winged horses, dragons, gryphons, unicorns and creatures harry could not name.

And they were all moving. Leaning back he could follow the path of a black, skeletal winged horse galloping across the royal blue background. The strut holding the roof where covered in delicate patterns. The stained glass windows reached from the floor to the ceiling, basking everything in multi-coloured specs of light. The windows also depicted mythological creatures, though they mainly were humanoid, yet still moving. Harry recognized fairies, dwarfs, something that could be a vampire, several were-creatures and a mermaid.

“Pretty impressive, right?” Harry looked down again to see that both of his … hosts – where they the owners of this house-church thing? – had stopped bickering and were now watching him intently.

“Yes…” the boy replied letting his voice trail of, he was not sure if he could trust them yet. The redhead grinned.

“Sorry, we got carried away like that. We are just pretty excited to be here.”

“Why?”

“Oh man, I practically asked for that…ah…how should I say this…it’s just that we – I mean… argh! Well, we – please don’t freak out – but we have been kind of…dead… for over a thousand years.”

Harry stared.

“I think I broke him.”

“You don’t say? I would not have thought so.”

“Harry?”

Blue eyes slowly turned back to the redhead. “Am I dead?”

“What? No! You’re not dead. You are very much alive. Ah…”

“What he is trying to tell you is that we have been called from the afterlife to protect you, because you are the first in centuries to fulfil several conditions that have been set for us.”

“So, who are you?”

“My name is Salazar Slytherin and the moron next to me is called Godric Gryffindor. We are the male half of the Hogwarts Founders.”

Slytherin…Gryffindor…Hogwarts…These names all sounded familiar yet so very distant. The feeling they caused him was similar to having a line from a song ghosting through your mind, without being able to remember the rest of the song.

“I think I heard my parents mentioning your last names before…”

“That would make sense, after all eidetic memory is a Slytherin family trait.”

Harry looked up at that. “Are you insinuating that I am a descendant of yours?”

“Correct. It was part of the conditions that allowed us to return here.”

“So what else did you need to come back to life?”

“If another heir by blood both to Slytherin and Gryffindor has been deemed worthy by Magic herself, we shall return unto the mortal realm to protect and teach our successor.”

“You say “another heir” has there been one before?”

“Yes. Our son.” Godric admitted, but he looked like even thinking about it tore him apart.

“Please, do not take any offense but you both look like you are male. At least biologically spoken. And you introduced yourselves as such.”

“Yes, we are male. But in the olden times two or more people were allowed to participate in a ritual offering up their blood and magic. If Lady Magic was willing she gave life to that mix, creating a child. We had been fortunate enough to be gifted with a son, but he… turned to black magic, doing horrible deeds. I had at that time long stopped to think of him as our son…Godric did not but he was the one who ended his life anyway, because he did not want me to sully my hands with the blood of my child…” at that the redhead got up and left the room. Harry looked after him, feeling dejected.

“I am sorry. I should not have asked.”

“Nonsense. Godric did the only right thing at that time, as much as it pains us both. He just needs to accept that. To make a long story short, Godric left the castle, not being able to bear his guilt. I settled down with another woman, as did he. We never saw each other again in that lifetime.”

“So right now you’re back to being friends until Godric can overcome his guilt and ask you to be with him again.”

Salazar stared for a while, then gave a slightly amused chuckle “Damn it, child, you have some great observation skills there. So…what gave it away?”

“You just seem very accustomed to each other. Your eyes are filled with something more than fondness for each other. And I don’t think someone would go through a ritual to have a child with someone and then kill said child just to save the other the pain of doing so, if you did not love them very much. As for you… I was not exactly sure how you felt about the whole thing but your response to my question squashed any last doubts I had.”

At this Salazar outright laughed. “We’ll have a great time together. Now then, let’s go search for a depressed lion, we have a lot to do!”

 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment. Pretty please.


	3. “Feather Theme” by Alan Silvestri (from “Forrest Gump”)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Fluff and my attempt at humour, please tell me how it went.
> 
> Also Thank you to Clockwork Monsters and Kricket93 for pointing out some rather embarassing mistakes I made. Please continue to point out spelling, grammar, punctuation or content mistakes as English is not my native language

Salazar led him through the marble archways of the building. Harry had been correct in his assumption of the house actually being a cathedral, the layout and architecture fit the stereotype of a gothic church perfectly. The only thing missing were the signs of Christian tradition, so maybe it had been a church once and then had become a home to Salazar and Godric.

There were no walls but the bed and bath rooms were in smaller “chapels” which were still lavishly painted.

“Before you ask, this had never been a religious house but was created as a sanctuary build for Magicals in a time when the muggles hunted us down. The cathedral is the centre of an old monastery which had been built around it when too many people tried to find shelter here. On the outside this still looks like the ruins of an old cloister on the edge of a cliff in the middle of nowhere. Muggles rarely come here and since the cliff connecting us to the coast caved in at the end of the 18th century they cannot explore the island because of tricky and dangerous winds.”

“How did you find this place? Even a magical person must have trouble finding it, otherwise I am sure this place would be cramped.”

“Well, when we got pulled into this time we landed directly in the ruins of that muggle house. Your relatives were scrambling to get away from the winds and you were still hovering in the air. So we changed your uncle’s and aunt’s memory, telling them that you died in a gas explosion that wrecked their house. At that time Godric had pulled you from the sky, you being out cold, and we collected the little belongings you had. In the few following days we searched all of Britain for a suitable dwelling place, finally landing here. We would have used Hogwarts but both of us deemed it wise to not announce ourselves to the public until we get sorted out what brought you to that house in the first place.”

“How come you are so familiar with modern speech and muggle luxuries?”

“Simple: Magic. Now… how about breakfast? I know for a fact that you have not eaten for the last three days and, judging from your relatives minds, probably even longer than that.”

“Sounds good. But what about Godric?”

“He’ll come around. He always does.”

_“Don’t break someone’s heart they only have one._

_Break their bones, they have got 206 of them.”_

True to Salazar’s word, Godric came into the kitchen area not even five minutes after Salazar had started making breakfast. The red-headed man tried to sneak to the table behind Salazar’s back, causing the ravenette to fling the spatula at him: “How dare you run off? Haven’t the thousand something years taught you that no one holds what happened against you?” huffing the man turned away to continue flipping the pancakes.

Godric leaned slightly forward, hunched a bit together and fixed his evergreen eyes on Salazar, who turned away. Godric then crouched right in front of him, making a pitiable face. “I’m sorry?”

“Don’t you dare do the kitten eyes at me” hissed Salazar, hitting him with the spatula over the head. “Now go set the table, we do not have any house elves yet and I refuse to let Harry do all the work!”

“You’ll thoroughly pamper and overindulge the boy, won’t you? I knew you had a soft bone in you.” Since at that point he had gotten up and was now too tall for Salazar to smack him over the head, the Asian man jabbed the spatula – dripping with hot oil – between Godric’s ribs.

“Ouch, for fuck’s sake…” this time the spatula – accompanied by a scream of “LANGUAGE!” – flew across the kitchen island, hitting Godric between the shoulder blades.

Grumbling, the redhead walked around the island counter, looking for the glasses and milk, while Salazar handed Harry a plate loaded with pancakes.

“You’re not going to make it easy for him, will you?” the boy whispered. Salazar grinned: “Of course not, if he wants me back he’ll have to work for it!”

“Yeah…sure. If you are able to ignore the fact that you are totally smitten with him…even after a millennium.”

Salazar rolled his eyes. “We have to work on your brain-mouth-filter, this bluntness is bound to get you into trouble one day… But before we do anything: Eat up!”

“But there are at least five pancakes on that plate!”

“Just eat it! You are way too thin!”

_“Entering Diagon Alley!” – by John Williams (from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”)_

Harry stepped through the gate which had formed out of the brick wall, proclaiming the street he was about to step into as “Diagon Alley”.

“What happens if I tap another combination of stones?” Harry whispered. A horned viper raised its head out of his hoodie: “If you do it backwards the wall will open up to Knockturn Alley. Otherwise nothing happens.”

“Knockturn Alley?”

“The go-to-place in England for dark wizards and everyone who wants to become one.” replied the viper, whom Harry knew to be Salazar in disguise.

“Will you two stop hissing at each other? It’s creepy and makes me feel left out.” Growled Godric whom Salazar somehow had coerced into turning into a black fluffy kitten with bright green eyes.

“Well it’sssss not like you can blame usssssss. Jussssst a moment ago you weren’t even ssssspeaking to usssssssssssssss.” Replied the snake – who had now changed into an Atheris Hispida – in English.

“Yes! And I still hate you by the way!”

“He ssssssaysssss thsssat, yet he’sssss turned on by jussssst thssssse mere ssssound of it.” Hissed Salazar.

“Stop talking about that in front of Harry!”

“Ssssso you have no problem in usssssing lesssssss thssssan sssssavory language in front of him but decssssside thsssat ssssspeaking of sssssssexsssss issss not appropriate?”

“I have a much more important question!” interrupted Harry. Then he turned to Godric who was still looking out of his messenger bag. “How is it that Salazar started out as a black mamba, then turned into a horned viper and now is an Atheris Hispida?”

“It’s his way of showing off. The less you comment on it, the less you will get annoyed by his ego.” With that the still sulking kitten ducked back into the depth of the leather bag.

“I wonder if he is at all aware of how adorable he is when he does that.” Commented Salazar in Parseltongue.

“Adorable is not exactly the word I would use to describe Godric.”

“Oh but he definitely is. Seeing such a giant of a man coming undone is so very exciting.”

“Ok. I think this is the time where I remind you that I am seven year old and people my age have only one thing to say about this topic: GROSS! Besides that, I think “giant” does not really apply to Ric. Sure he is tall but for a giant he is too…”

“Lithe? Luscious? Eye-candy-ish?”

“Salazar. There are lot of images I do not need in my mind. The one you just painted is one of them.”

“Fine then, I’ll just have to wait for a few years and then, when you have a crush you gush about, and when that time comes I will take your words and shove them right back IN YOUR FACE!”

“Are you sure you are the grown-up in this conversation? Because it sure as hell doesn’t seem like it.”

“In case you two are interested, people have started staring at you two, since you have been hissing rather loudly at each other in the middle of the street!” piped Godric in.

“Well thssssen we have no time to lossssssse, hurry on, Harry, to Gringottsssss!”

_Enter, stranger, but take heed._

_Of what awaits the sin of greed_

_For those who take but do not earn_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_If you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

“Am I supposed to greet the guards or just regard them with a nod?” hissed Harry under his breath, not wanting to offend the two goblins standing in front of the entrance.

“The guards would not even respond if you were to greet them. However it will only be advantageous for you if you greet the goblin inside the bank correctly.”

With that in mind, Harry stepped through the imposing double doors and into the bank.

Marble. Marble everywhere. The floor, the walls, the pillars, the ceiling. Even the tellers seemed to be made from some kind of marble. Had the chandelier not glittered red, gold, blue, bronze, yellow and green, Harry would have guessed that it had been some sort of marble too.

Taking a deep breath, Harry stepped towards the teller. “It’ll be alright. The fact alone that a wizard as young as yourself tries to respect them is a thing of rareness, so even if you mess up the words a bit, the goblins will not hold a grudge, just take of the hood, give a polite smile, keep eye contact and greet them just like we told you to.”

The goblin looked down on Harry with dark eyes. Removing the hood from his ever rebellious hair, Harry smiled slightly: “Good day to you, Master Goblin. May your gold flow and your wealth multiply. My name is Hadrian Zephyrus Potter and I have come to know that I am of magical birth. Would it be possible for me to get an Inheritance test and a thorough assess of my abilities done today?”

“Good day to you too, young man. May you be wealthy and your path paved with gold. Of course it is possible for you to get tested. Please follow me. Will your guardian stay in their current form?”

As both of the Founders had told him this would happen, Harry simply answered: “They will join me in their human forms. At least one of them will. The other is still sulking in my bag.” Which earned him a kick from Godric and a whispered: “I heard that you sly midget.”

The goblins eyes lit up: “Ingenious! A simple charm to avoid detection unless the observant is told of the bag’s existence!” with that their little group hurried along the hallways, to a simple looking office.

“Wait, here, someone will soon be here to attend to your needs.”

“Excuse me, sir, but could you at least tell me your name?”

“Griphook, Mr Potter.”

“Well, then Griphook, it was a pleasure doing business with you. May your tunnels be coloured with your enemies’ blood.”

“And may your enemies fear your name, Mr Potter.” With a respectful nod, Griphook returned to his duties.

“Wow, I have never seen a goblin do _that_ before. You must have really impressed him.” said Salazar who had yet again changed form, this time to a Tiger Snake.

“Mr Hadrian Zephyrus Potter?”

“Yes?” Harry turned around, coming face to face with an elderly – at least he thought so – goblin.

“My name is Steelclaw. I am the Potter Family account manager.”

“Good day to you, sir. May your wealth multiply and your future path be paved with no ill surprises.”

“May your gold multiply and your life be long with great successes. Come on in Mr Potter, we have great a deal to discuss.”

_“The extraordinary Mr Wildermuth” – by Confidential Music (from the trailer for “Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them”)_

The blood dropped onto the parchment, drawing elegant lines, writing out everything about Harry. It spilled over to the other sheets, creating a concrete picture of everything that had happened to Harry Potter. Soon Steelclaw had to add new pages of parchment as there was still information to be written down.

“This will take a while. In the mean time I have something to present you with” the goblin pulled out an emerald hexagonal tube, which was sealed on both ends and had carved patterns into its surface.

Laying the small casket between them, Steelclaw said: “I, Steelclaw, manager of the Potter vaults hereby state that the letter by Lady Lily Potter has been delivered to her youngest son, Hadrian Zephyrus Potter.”

The emerald box started to glow, releasing the hologram of a woman in her early thirties.

“Harry, I do not know how much you will remember, but on the 1st of November 2000 Dumbledore gave you away to the Dursley family. I know for a fact that they have abused you and made your life miserable. Today on your and your twin’s 5th birthday, James wants to start Daniel’s formal etiquette lessons. As the law states he has to start your lessons as well. Since he does not want to “bother with you” he has decided – by Dumbledore’s suggestion - to disown you and banish you from the family. I protested against such actions and thereby made Dumbledore suspicious of my loyalty to him. This letter contains the bit of knowledge I was able to extract the last five years.

First of all: The spell Dumbledore used to change James, your father, was a bully in his youth. Dumbledore used the memories of one victim in particular, Severus Snape, to revert James’ personality back to that point in time, adding a block on his intelligence as well. I suspect that he used the mirror-image curse on me, to make me compliant. That curse will slowly take all my core attributes and turn them into the exact opposite. I will most likely be a meek, insecure, sheep of a woman at the end.

This is my situation and because of that I hereby emancipate you Harry, until you have found guardians whom you believe are suitable to raise and love you. May Lady Magic be on your side, my son, and may she aide you when confronted with what has become of our family. Be warned: Your brother has not been bewitched by Dumbledore, so do not trust him and do not let his antics get to you. Trust Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Angiola Zabini and Narcissa Malfoy.”

With that the hologram dissipated and the emerald tube stopped glowing. Steelclaw slowly took it from the table.

“Six months later, Lady Potter became exactly as she predicted, she has ever since been a shadow of James Potter, who has been Head Auror for the last five years. The two attend galas of Light afflicted houses and Lord Potter stands for a strict anti-Dark policy, and is well known for his rivalry with Lord Malfoy. He went through with the disowning however, never filed the banishment, allowing me to help you and in turn the rest of your family, who have lost their selves.”

Steelclaw turned to the stack of parchments, which were now finished with evaluating all information.

“Let me begin with your personal health, Mr Potter. We will then take a look on a malicious enchantments and your magical properties, after which we will finally come to your worldly inheritances and what creature blood might trigger a creature inheritance when you come of age.”

“Ah, could we appoint my new guardians? I would like to get such an important issue out of the way before we proceed to other legal matters.”

“In that case I must ask both of your guardians to assume their human form.”

Even before Steelclaw had finished speaking, Salazar had returned to his human self. Both were looking expectantly at the messenger bag.

“I know you are staring.” Deadpanned the bag or rather the kitten inside of it.

The Slytherin founder suppressed a sigh. “You are aware that the goblins know exactly what we look like? And since I just revealed myself, it is obvious that the black kitten in the bag is you. Now do try to show some maturity and return to your original body.”

The bag only gave a hiss.

“Fine then, I alone shall take custody over Harry which will allow me to also create a public persona for myself, allowing me to be in my human form outside of the sanctuary.”

Harry was no expert but he was sure that there had never been a transformation from a cat to a man that came about so quickly.

“That I’d live to see that day…” Steelclaw muttered.

“We did not expect it to ever happen. But Fate would not have created that loophole in Death’s business if her predicted event would never come true.”

“Very well. Please sign with your real names here. We will set up a new name for each of you after we have gone through your ward’s test results.”

_“My Family is temperamental._

_Half temper_

_Half mental.”_

Steelclaw cleared his throat: “Your personal health is less than satisfactory. I suggest you visit one of the creature healers in Knockturn Alley they know their stuff and are ready to go to forbidden measures to save a life. Please do so soon, otherwise the damage might become irreversible if not life-threatening!”

“Now, for your magical core. You are a neutral wizard, while predominantly dark, the few light magic spots in your aura are a form of concentrated light, which means that while you may seem dark, you are perfectly balanced. This of course is reflected in your elemental affinity, stating that you are the new contractor of the Wind Spirit King. Extraordinary as that alone is, it becomes even more interesting combined with the fact that your magic has been bound by 50 % at birth, to protect you from overpowering accidental magic. That block will automatically release itself on your 11th birthday. However another block has been placed by Albus Dumbledore, sealing yet again 50% of the remaining magic, leaving you with 25% of your original core. Now it is interesting is that these blocks are both perfectly hidden, meaning that the wind spirit king has chosen you worthy as a contractor although you only have a quarter of your original magical core. Any other wizard would be near crippled right now, yet your power levels are still above average. I think we will be expecting great things of you Mr Potter, many great things indeed.”

“Can we remove the block from Dumbledore? I would feel more assured knowing that none of the man’s magic is anywhere near Harry.”

“Of course Lord Slytherin. As soon as we are done, for I fear that this interference might not be the only one of its kind. The magical abilities list is vast to say the least and many of your charge’s talents have been locked away. As such we have:

  * Parseltongue, but the Parselmagic perception has been blocked
  * Animagus forms (3 a normal one, a Parsel one, a Wind one) blocked
  * Those who dance with fire, nullified by being a contractor
  * Those who dance through shadows, blocked, nullified by being a contractor
  * Those who dance in the light, nullified by being a contractor
  * Those who dance beneath the ocean, nullified by being a contractor
  * Dormant Elven blood, no creature inheritance possible
  * Dormant Veela blood, no creature inheritance possible
  * Dormant Vampire blood, blocked, no creature inheritance possible
  * Dormant Naga blood, blocked, creature inheritance 10%
  * Dormant Incubi blood, blocked, creature inheritance 10%
  * Dormant Fae blood, creature inheritance 20%
  * Dormant Siren blood, blocked, nullified by being a contractor
  * Dormant Kitsune blood, blocked, nullified by being a contractor
  * Dormant Dragon blood, blocked, creature inheritance 20%
  * Dormant Ryuu blood, blocked, creature inheritance 30%
  * Dormant Djinn blood, blocked, creature inheritance 10%



As you can see this is quite an impressive list. Do you have any questions concerning this?”

“What do “Those who dance…” mean?” asked Harry.

““Those who dance” is a term for descendants of a contractor. They still carry the element’s stigma but cannot control the element, though said element cannot harm them. For example one of “those who dance with fire” would never get burned and cannot die of overheating. Their body temperature is quite a bit higher than normal people’s and they all have flaming red hair. - Before you ask, Godric is a Fire contractor - If one of “those who dance” becomes a contractor for another element they will lose these properties and the stigma, only for it to be replaced by their new element, which is why your hair is still black, but your eyes are blue now.” Explained Salazar.

“What he forgot to mention is that only because someone has red hair it must mean that it is a fire Stigma. And any creature inheritances conflicting with your Element are suppressed, which is why you cannot inherit Kitsune or siren blood, as both creatures have elemental non-wind properties. One last thing: You can only have one elemental affinity, Lady Magic has made it this way so that no wizard would become powerful by seizing all spirit kings. Unfortunately this has also caused wars before as two or more Spirit Kings where fighting over a possible contractor.”

“What do the percentages behind the other creatures mean?”

“If you count them together they will give you the chance of you having a creature inheritance at all. In your case that is 100%, the individual percentages show the chance of which creature it will be.”

“Sorry, to bother you with this Master Steelclaw, I just grew up in the muggle world and know next to nothing about the wizarding world.”

“No worries, Mr Potter. This is a great brush up for my memory. It’s been so long since people bothered with inheritance tests and contractors. Nowadays elemental magic and affinity have decreased to a minimum and only the dark families even tell the old stories to their children. Nevertheless before we break all the blocks on your person, we should take a look at your worldly belongings as well, it won’t take much time. Now I will first read the list of titles from your father’s side and will name the titles from your maternal side afterwards. The list of properties seems to take up several folders” at that the goblin pointed towards the thick manila folders that had arranged themselves on his desk “so we will skip that and simply give you a copy of the master list.”

The goblin sorted through the papers, took a sip from the glass of water on his table and started to read again: “The inherited titles of Hadrian Zephyrus Potter

From his paternal side:

  * Gryffindor, confirmed heir apparent by Godric Gryffindor
  * Emrys, confirmed heir apparent by Merlin Emrys
  * Pendragon, confirmed heir apparent by Godric Gryffindor and Merlin Emrys
  * Peverell, heir presumptive



From his maternal side:

  * Slytherin, confirmed heir apparent by Salazar Slytherin
  * LeFay, heir apparent confirmed by Salazar Slytherin
  * Peverell, in combination with his paternal claim, heir apparent, not yet confirmed



From his Godfather’s side:

  * Black, heir apparent, if the current Black Lord will die without a suitable heir



Note: When Heir Black-Peverell-Gryffindor-Slytherin-LeFay-Emrys comes into his creature inheritance it is advisable to do another inheritance test.”

Silence. Even Salazar looked a bit shocked.

“So…what do we do now?” Godric asked. That seemed to pull Salazar out of his thoughts: “We need to set up new names. Then we will clean up Harry. Afterwards we’ll go shopping. There are some things we need.”

Steelclaw drew up some official looking documents.

Salazar went over them, filled in the gaps and gave one to Godric to sign. The Gryffindor Founder leaned sideways so that Harry could take a look as well.

Old identity:

Name: Godric Gryffindor

Date of Birth: 23rd of April 965

Titles: Gryffindor, Emrys, Pendragon

Notes: Fire Contractor

New/cover identity:

Name: Richard Emrys

Date of Birth: 23rd of April 1985

Titles: Emrys, Pendragon, Gryffindor

Notes: Fire Contractor

“Richard…seriously Sal? Richard?”

“At least that way no one will question us if we keep calling you Ric.”

“By what name will you go then?”

“Solomon LeFay. I think we should pose as spouses, with Harry being our son. We might be a bit young, but that can be explained with the non-existent pregnancy of a male-male bonding.”

“At least I would have still been 15 years old, that is a bit young to be bonded don’t you think?”

Harry sneak peeked at Salazar’s document. “Well he did make himself three years older than you, so I think you guys should be fine. At least one of you was a “responsible” adult at the time of my “conception””

“You are aware that I can hear your quotation marks around the word “responsible”.” Commented Salazar with a raised eyebrow.

“You are aware that this was exactly my intention.” Retorted Harry in the same tone. Salazar looked stumped, Godric giggled…so did Steelclaw.

_“Get in, loser!_

_We’re going shopping!”_

_Regina George_

An hour later when the newly made family of three emerged from Gringotts after a full on cleaning and healing ritual (because as soon as the workers in the ritual room had seen him, they refused to let him go until he had a perfectly clean health bill), the sun had already reached its zenith. As it was, Salazar insisted that they eat lunch before going anywhere, stating that he was making sure Harry never ever ever ever missed a meal again.

Luncheon was…memorable. Salazar had gotten himself a salad with chicken coated with sugarless cornflake crumbs. Of course that had enticed Godric to steal said chicken. He even went so far as to snatch it right of the man’s fork, causing Salazar to let Godric’s Pasta Frutti di Mare explode. The different kinds of sea food flew everywhere, which of course freaked Harry out. Being an inexperienced Wind Contractor, Harry lost control over the element, creating a small tornado that destroyed the table decoration and dragged the long discarded silverware with it, causing slashes in the table cloth. In the meantime the fight between Salazar and Godric had become and all out food war, further ruining the already shredded table cloth, as the two grown men were bombarding each other with different kinds of food. At one point a Panna Cotta from the neighbouring table had hit a middle aged toad like woman in the face, slowly dripping onto her pink robe. The ensuing silence lasted for almost ten seconds until the owner of said Panna Cotta started cussing at the two founders for ruining his dessert. At that point one of the amused by watchers stood up, holding a tiramisu in his hand screaming: “You want dessert? Have some!” and send it hurling in the general direction of the cussing wizard.

The ensuing chaos escalated into a 12 hour long food fight, which spanned over all of Diagon Alley, creating an annual tradition that would bring joy to young and old for many years to come.

Harry however would only hear of that circumstance later on, as Salazar had dragged him and Godric out of the restaurant by the collars once the attention was not on them anymore. He kept a tight hold on them until they reached Knockturn Alley, where they straightened up and stepped into a shop called: “Zabini’s outfitting parlour for the elegant wizard. Fine clothes, jewellery, accessory and haircuts since 999 A.D.” In such a seedy street as Knockturn, the shop shone with a perfectly clean façade, emitting an aura of class and refined taste.

Salazar turned to Harry. “An old friend of mine runs that shop. He was a young incubus and one of the first students we had at Hogwarts. I believe he should still be alive, the children of Lilith can outlive any creature on this planet as long as they have a constant supply of …life…force.”

“You mean people willing to open their dreams so that they can have sex with them.” Deadpanned Harry. Godric coughed violently, Salazar gave a relieved sigh before entering the shop.

A woman in black robes with lace sleeves and lace Victorian overskirt. Her dark brown hair was done up in a fashion fitting with her dress and her dark ruby lips contrasted perfectly with her honey coloured skin.

“Angiolo Zabini…or should it be Angiola in this lifetime?” Salazar greeted her.

“Salazar Slytherin. That I would live to see the day. Godric too.” She rushed over to hug both of them. “And yes I changed my name to Angiola once I became a parent. You were right, you know I found the perfect one, while he is not my son’s biological father, he is the big brother to Blaise he could not have and the lover I always wanted. He is wonderful and makes me very happy, his acceptance of my gender-technical inconsistencies did wonders for my self-esteem, especially with the government as light as it is… But I guess you will not be going by your original names either, will you? After all both of you are still revered and even worshipped along Merlin, even in this day and age.”

Godric laughed at that. “I cannot really imagine it to be that bad. Anyways, may we re-introduce ourselves I am Richard Emrys, the charming man next to me is my husband Solomon LeFay and this” here he gently put a hand on Harry’s shoulder “is our adopted son Hadrian Zephyrus Emrys-LeFay, formerly Potter.”

Angiola sat on her haunches in front of Harry, examining him. “A Wind Contractor?” she asked.

“That is only a recent addition, ma’am. I was raised by muggles for the last six years. So I am not sure if I fit the bill of a deserving family member yet.”

The succubus looked shell-shocked. “So it is true then” she turned to Salazar “he is the missing Potter twin?”

“Yes, cast away to the muggles. It would have been worse, had Lady Potter not interfered, she tried to keep him safe, although she could not be with him. That cost her soul and will, Dumbledore used the mirror-curse on her.”

A broken sob tore itself from Angiola’s throat. “Lily. Oh Merlin, Lily.” She hugged Harry, at her touch, memories from his eidetic mind, came back to him.

_A hug, a soft laugh. “Aren’t you a precious boy? Aren’t you? Aren’t you” He felt himself being thrown up in the air. Another voice, this one male: “Careful, Angel, or you’ll drop him! Let alone the fact that you are in your final stages of pregnancy!” “Don’t be such a party killer, Sirius!”…_

“Aunt Angie?” he whispered. Slowly the memories sorted themselves into place. Angiola Zabini and Sirius Black were his godparents. He remembered them, every hug, every affectionate touch. He remembered Blaise as well.

A tearstained face looked up at him. “You remember. Of course you do. You always could!” She hugged him once more. As she did he whispered into his ear: “So Ric and Sal, finally got their act together again?”

Harry grinned “Not yet, but I don’t think it will stay this way for much longer if Salazar has any say in it.” He whispered back, causing the succubus to chuckle. Slowly the Lilim gathered herself, standing up.

“Surely you came for more than teary reunions? I think we will need new wardrobes for all of you. Nothing against you personally but these robes are horribly outdated and we cannot have the heir of several Most Ancient and Most Noble houses running around in muggle clothing.”

After getting robes fitted for daily wear, semi-formal and formal occasions as well as a set of duelling robes, Angiola and Salazar dragged Harry towards the vanity where Angiola washed his hair. Whilst she rinsed her fingers, she and Salazar discussed the different hairstyles.

“You see, he has some very even tan on his skin, which highlights his eyes. Their almond shape came from you taking custody I presume?”

“Yes. The black of his hair rounds his colouring up pretty well. I suggest we go with something asymmetrical which would make the natural messiness of his hair seem intended.”

“How about a side cut? We will cut his left side about a centimetre short and slowly let it stay longer until we reach his right temple. If I thought of this correctly his hair should reach his jaw at that point.”

“Don’t ask me. Ask Harry. It is his haircut after all.”

“Does this sound alright?” Angiola asked, tilting Harry’s head back so he could see her. The boy smiled then nodded as best as he was able.

“Good, here we go then!”

The shopping trip ended with Harry dragging Salazar to a bookstore that sold dark tomes and artefacts. He found some very interesting books and a goblin-made diamond dagger that seemed to have been made for him, its bronze hilt, fitting perfectly into his small hand. Let’s not forget that the blade of the dagger had also been dipped into basilisk poison.

Salazar was more than happy to purchase the weapon for Harry, as it gave him the security of knowing that his ward could protect himself. Not to mention it irked Godric to no end that Harry had chosen such a Slytherin weapon for protection.

It was almost midnight when they returned home. Instead of making it to bed, they all collapsed on the sofa, where the newly appointed house elves of the reinstated Slytherin and Gryffindor manors put some blankets over them. The head elf smiled at the scene. Young Harry Potter might be in need of the two founders to protect him, but they needed him as well as he healed old wounds and helped mend broken bridges.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kitten!Godric: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/bd/e7/ec/bde7ec3b7989fc3e905a67595862b06a.jpg  
> Snakes!Salazar: http://www.hdwallpapersnews.com/top-10-most-dangerous-snakes.html
> 
> Comments are wonderful. Please comment.


	4. “Diabolic Waltz” by Taku Iwasaki (from “Black Butler”)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some explanations  
> And Yule balls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer, If Harry Potter belonged to me, Harry would have been in Slytherin. But he isn’t, so this is a non-profit fanwork.  
> References to several games, to “Sassy Gay Friend” videos, the first book of “Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy”, the Matrix triology and Family guy, though I must admit that I have never watched that show. I did watch Matrix though.  
> Also references to Fort Minor’s “Remember the Name”  
> No form of insult is meant to be conveyed by any references  
> BEWARE! My attempt at humour. The ones who spot the “Hitchhiker” reference get a HP-one-shot of their choice, all I need is a pairing/character/friendship and a prompt word/phrase/sentence.

“So, please explain the different affinities magic can have and what they stand for. Go into the differences between the political agendas and what the magicks usually stand for.” Said Salazar in a stern voice.

“There are magic affinities which are not your choice. They are given to you by blood, as all old families are either “dark” or “light” inclined. This inclination comes from their “those who dance” status, which is either yang - for fire, lightning or light – or yin for earth water and dark. The wind affinity cannot be placed in either category and can reach its greatest potential with a balanced use of both dark and light spells. Then there are the affinities based on your character, like creature inheritances and contractor status. Lastly there are the choices you can make whether you are a good or fiendish mage. Good mages use their power to create and protect, as well as heal and restore. These mages still can destroy, however they won’t do so without a very good reason. Fiendish mages are what you could call “unhinged” they destroy, attack and shed blood simply for the sake of doing so. They have no real goal or reason to live, so they try to fill up their emptiness with the pain of others. An evil mage will only be stopped by their own demise, for he does not care for anyone but themselves.

In modern society, “dark” has come to be a synonym for “evil”, which is utter nonsense. The “dark” policy simply states that it would be more advantageous for us to hold on to our traditions and integrate muggleborns into the magical world as soon as possible, while the “light” sector believes it would be better to slowly open ourselves up to muggle technology, so that we can slowly start to understand our non-magical neighbours. Both sides have extremists and – as in every political debate – neither of these extremes are right. In my opinion we should keep an eye on the muggles and use their scientific accomplishments for our purposes, yet still hold on to our traditions as magic needs to be nourished to be able to grow. However such a political course can only be achieved far into the future, as the current government is extremely “light”, labelling everything remotely dark as “evil” and prohibiting it. However the dark extremists call for the complete isolation from the muggle world and the banishment if not death of all muggles and muggleborns. There are very few neutral dark families left after the war, since the sect called “Death Eaters” killed any dark family who refused to aid them.” Replied Harry, rolling his eyes. Salazar had asked that question for at least three times in the last two hours alone.

“You mentioned blood statuses in your last answer. Discuss what they stand for.” Salazar continued unimpressed.

“Blood status comes from which “blood” you carry. There are purebloods, half-bloods, redeemed, muggleborns and squibs. A pureblood is a magical person that can prove their ancestry to have no muggle blood in it for the last five generations. A half-blood is a magical person with at least one magical direct family member, not including aunts, uncles and cousins. In short a half-blood is a wizard whose ancestry has not reached pureblood-status yet. Then we have squibs who by all means should have magic, yet are not deemed worthy of Lady Magic’s gift. Most of the time they are banished to the muggle world. They still count as pureblood if their parents were, so if two “pureblood” squibs have a magical baby the child will be acknowledged as a pureblood. If two squibs have a non-magical child the child also counts as a squib, but their bloodline goes dormant. If one of the descendants is magical however, they will count as a “redeemed” and can claim their dormant blood line. Such was the case of my mother, whom everyone saw as a talented muggleborn but was I truth one of your heirs. The last caste are the muggleborns who are magical persons born from completely non-magical parents. Usually Magic gifts muggleborns with a magical core vaster than an average pureblood, since they are supposed to be clan founders for new families. A true muggleborn is rather rare, however in our generation there are “many” of them since the war erased several pureblood families.

Originally muggleborns were revered for Lady Magic herself hand selected them to become additions to the magical world. In the Victorian era, when muggle-raised students form upper class families were better educated than pureblood students. This caused the wizarding families to start belittling the muggle-raised students, classifying all children without a magical parent as muggleborn. They also started to discriminate the “muggleborns”, calling them mudbloods and ostracizing them in society on the ground of having found evidence that Salazar Slytherin himself had deemed mudbloods unworthy to teach. That reasoning derived from a more than dubious translation of rune tablet which supposedly stated: “Salazar Slytherin of the LeFay line wanted to banish all students born of black mud.” It actually stated that “Salazar Slytherin of the LeFay line was born of mud and wanted to banish those who turned fiendish”. The notion of “mudbloods” still remains to this very day.”

Salazar nodded solemnly. “Very well, give a short overview of the house ranks and we’ll be done.”

“There are Noble Houses which include, simply put, all wizarding families. They do not have a place in the Wizengamot, however they can become government leaders by taking over important posts in the Ministry, which makes them eligible for the station.

The Most Noble Houses have a net worth of at least 10 000 000 Galleons and they all have one vote in the Wizengamot.

Ancient and Noble Houses are families that have carried their name for at least 10 generations, whereas a generation equals 35 years. They also have one vote each in the Wizengamot.

If a family has carried their name for at least 20 generations they become a Most Ancient and Noble House, meaning that they will have two votes each in the Wizengamot.

An Ancient and Most Noble House are an Ancient House that has a net worth of 10 000 000 Galleons, meaning that they will have two votes each in the Wizengamot.

The Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses are founding members of the Wizengamot, so they get four votes each.

The highest ranking families are the Imperial Houses of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor, LeFay, Emrys and Peverell. They were powerful long before the Wizengamot was created and they will be powerful long after the Wizengamot is gone. As it is they have 5 votes each.

A family – except the Most Ancient and Most Noble Houses and the Imperial Houses – can rise up in the ranks, as long as they fit the conditions, but can be demoted as well if they shed their name or squander their money.

A muggleborn founded family will have the opportunity to vote in the Wizengamot for 5 generations. They also get help with building up their net worth from the goblins. If they can furthermore prove that their family has carried their name for at least 100 years, their time in the muggle world will count as well, meaning that if a muggleborn founded family can reach the status of Ancient and Most Noble very fast.

Lastly there certain rules all houses have to abide. For example one house exterminating another. Or appointing an immortal head of house. This last rule is the reason why Sirius cannot just blood adopt Blaise and make him his heir.”

“Very good, but with a bit more enthusiasm next time.” Commented Salazar.                        

Godric groaned: “Sal, let the boy live. You have put him through torture for the last four months. You have drilled manners into him in the span of two and a half months which should have been taught in two and a half years. Besides, relax. He is the heir of five imperial houses. He can do and say whatever the fuck he wants wherever the fuck he wants whenever the fuck he wants to whomever the fuck he wants without having to fear repercussions.”

“Yes but it will be easier for him to connect with other families if he does not stumble from one social faux pas into the next.” Argued a very aggravated Salazar.

“I get that but this is just the Black pre-Yule ball, there will be some dark supporters and Sirius will have cut down on the dancing part as well. Just think of this as a test run and do not freak out. And if it all comes to the worst, I doubt Blaise will take even one step away from Harry, you know how possessive the boy is. …Not to mention while you drilled etiquette into Harry’s head I showed him how to use that dagger.”

“He is as all unmated juvenile incubi are. But yes, you are right in the end there is nothing to really worry about. And what do you mean with… GODRIC GRYFFINDOR!”

With that Salazar began to chase Godric around the kitchen counter where they had gathered to wait for the Zabini’s to arrive.

When five minutes later the fireplace flashed green and Angiola and Blaise stepped through, the two founders were still running around the kitchen table. The house elves stood by betting on the outcome. One particular conversation went a little like this:

“I bet you my kitchen shift against your lawn duty that Master Godric wins.”

“Make that your cleaning duty in Master Hadrian’s room against cleaning Master Salazar’s potions lab and we have a deal.”

“Sorry, but I am not suicidal. Merlin knows what he brews in there. I am not even taking the slightest risk of having to find out.”

Harry watched amused as Godric turned into a kitten and hid under the shelves of cooking books. Salazar would have probably turned into a snake, had Angiola not called both of them to order.

As they walked towards the fireplace, Blaise whispered into Harry’s ear: “Dammit, that was some Unresolved Sexual Tension.”

“That?” Harry whispered back “Was nothing! You should see them when they fell asleep on the couch the night before. Or when Godric forgets his clothes and comes out of the bathroom with just a towel around his waist. Or when Salazar helps me practice my dance moves. Or when Godric’s shirt gets soaked in sweat during sword exercising. Or every time Salazar speaks Parsel. Or wears formal robes. Or an apron. Or when they dance together to teach me social dances. Or that one time when a kitten-ized Godric chased a ball of yarn, tried to turn back into a human and somehow bound himself to Salazar’s bedpost.”

Blaise groaned. Harry smirked.

“So, why do you need to practice dance moves? And what kind of dance is it?” continued Blaise in a normal volume.

“I dance pretty much every kind of dance. It helps me with my control when using the Wind. Practically every kind of rhythmic movement does. The chaos of the wind calms and I can start to channel it. That is why Godric teaches me martial arts as well. It’s so amazing being taught be them! I can understand everything and time flies by so fast! I feel like I’m learning very little but then Salazar shows me memories comparing how I started to how I dance or fight now and I realize how much progress I made!”

_“Main Theme” by Bear McCreary (from “Da Vinci’s Demons”)_

The ball was…boring. At least for Blaise and Harry. After the initial commotion when their cover names had been announced, the event quickly became the most boring social gathering any seven year old could think of.

“I’m bored.” Whined Blaise.

“You told me just a minute ago. And the minute before this one. And the one before that one as well.”

“Well are you not bored?”

“Of course I am bored. But it would be an insult to our host, my godfather, your honorary father/brother figure and Lord of one of the most influential houses, to actually show that boredom.”

“Well, all the interesting people went to that back room. Even Mom, Sirius and your…parents.”

“Then this whole gathering has become utterly useless. I know for a fact that both Ric-…shard and Solomon have but up anti-eavesdropping charms.”

“And to think we will have to endure this for at least another three times! The main Yule ball for the Blacks, the Malfoy ball and the Greengrass ball. How are we supposed to survive?”

“With this” Harry raised a slim, black device.

“This looks like one of the muggle gaming consoles mother told me about. I even got to play one of them once. While a dark witch, Mom appreciates some of the muggle technology like whirlpools and WiFi.”

“I can understand her notion. This particular device is a PlayStation Portable. It can do practically anything that counts as entertainment. I even have some games. Sal- I mean Solomon got this one and our television to work around magic. He says that the magical world would greatly benefit from something akin to the muggle internet and international news television.”

“Huh, who would have thought…But then again, picking out the best of both worlds for yourselves is a very Slytherin approach. So do you have Pokémon on that?”

“Yup, though I must say that “Professor Layton” and “Ace Attorney” are much more interesting.”

“Na, don’t be a bore, let’s play Pokémon!”

“Fine but if we get constantly into fights with wild monsters we quit and start playing something that you need to use your brain for.”

When Salazar, Godric, Sirius and Angiola stepped out of the conference room at last, they found their children in one of the parlours.

“What are you doing? What? What? What are you doing? If you use that we will have to do the level all over again!”

“Trust me, I got this…WHAT HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?”

“I told you! What did I tell you? Didn’t I tell you? `Cause I told you! Hmhm. And when did I tell you? Just a few seconds ago! And what did I say what’d happen if I told you? Exactly what just happened.”

_“Main Theme” by Trevor Morris (from “The Borgias”)_

“I have a strong sense of a deja-vu.” Groaned Blaise. The last two week had been torture since their parents decided that it would be a show of social grace to attend the smaller Yule balls as well. They had almost went through stuffy ball almost every night. Luckily they had only been forced to dance on this one, the Malfoy ball. But as Blaise was an excellent ballroom dancer and Harry was well on the way of becoming one, there had been no public embarrassments. Unfortunately Salazar and Godric had forbidden Harry to bring the PSP, meaning that the two boys had no other form of entertainment than dance along. And talk to each other whilst doing so.

“There are no deja-vus. It’s a glitch in the Matrix.” Replied Harry. But he could not argue with Blaise. These events were getting tiresome and rather repetitive since they were too young to participate in social mingling. So dancing it was. Fortunately this ball would soon be over and after that they only had to attend the Ministry ball on the day before Yule day, which would only be in another five days.

“I am still not sure we were allowed to watch these movies.” Muttered the incubus.

“Nonsense. The DVD box was openly lying around.”

“If your definition of “lying openly around” includes being hidden in a box with the label “Beware! Vicious Jaguar!”, then yes, you are right.”

Harry rolled his eyes at that.

A new piece of music began playing, allowing Harry to take the lead. He twirled Blaise around, letting a small gust of wind ruffle their hair and clothing. “You have gotten pretty well at controlling it.”

“Well, what can I say, it was 10% luck. 20% skill…”

“15% concentrated power of will?”

“Oh yes, plus 5% pleasure and 50% pain.”

“Which gives us a 100% reason to remember your name.”

They twirled around some more, letting themselves be swayed by the music. As the piece was coming to an end, Blaise leaned in. “Danger! Malfoy is making his way over here.” Harry noted that nervousness was rolling off of his friend. Not very surprising, the few encounters they had with Malfoy over the last few weeks had been unpleasant to say the least. The boy was spoiled beyond reason and Harry wondered if the blonde would still be dismissive towards him if he knew Harry’s full name.

While Malfoy’s cronies, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson were not much better, both him and Blaise enjoyed conversing with Theodore Nott who, despite his young age, knew that the dark was just as bigoted as the light. Nott also respected Harry’s wild card status and saw a challenge in finding out Harry’s last name or rather names.

“So, Zabini, hanging out with the low-class blood traitor again. Are you sure you want to ruin your already damaged reputation by…associating with…that?” Blaise gave a low, dangerous growl. Which would not have been intimidating to an adult but to a child was rather terrifying. Harry put both of his hands on Blaise’s shoulders, pulling the Italian boy towards him.

Turning to Malfoy he said: “First of all, if you are going to use archaic terms, know their definition. A blood traitor is someone who quits magical lifestyle and decides to live as a muggle despite having magic. I am in no way rejecting Lady Magic’s gift, I merely look beyond our world’s borders which have become so overbearing. I pick out what I need from the muggles, who might not have magic but can still produce sensible and intelligent human beings, although they have become rather rare these days. I am sure you have heard of Machiavelli, who was a muggle. Leonardo Da Vinci, a muggle. Albert Einstein, a muggle. Karl Marx, a muggle. All of them have not had any magic to aid them, yet still created something which could also benefit us. Machiavelli’s analysis of politics is still modern, yet the guy lived 500 years ago. Marx’ thoughts on capitalism is so perfect that many stock brokers still apply them. Da Vinci has created several magic-less means of flying in his mind, without ever testing them. They all worked! Albert Einstein…never mind. People like you continuously prove themselves to be resistant to facts. You are so stuck in your black-and-white thinking that you do not realize that your ways will lead to magic’s downfall just as much as the “light” way does. I can only hope that you will open your mind a bit to reality and can otherwise only beg Lady Magic that we do not the that much of each other, for I am not sure if I can actually bear your arrogance for even one more second! Good evening, Heir Malfoy!” With that, Harry took Blaise’s hand and dragged his friend to a parlour Narcissa had been kind enough to point out to them earlier.

There he threw himself onto the couch, he leaned forward, slowly massaging his temples. “One of these days I am going to kill that annoying prat. And I will get away with it.”

Blaise sank down on the armchair next to Harry with a sigh. “I think you did the right thing. Maybe you did not reach Malfoy and his posse, but the other heirs will have noticed you. In another life they might have joined Malfoy, swayed by his family’s political pull but with you and I standing against him, they will reconsider their options. Most of them have been raised Slytherins after all.”

“He is right.” Both boys turned towards the door where a smug Theodore Nott and a nervous looking Daphne Greengrass stood. Nott leaned debonairly against the door frame, his formal robes thrown over his shoulder.

Daphne rolled her eyes at the display. “We just came to thank you both. You did what everyone wanted to say but was too scared to do, in fear of being left standing alone. What you said were everyone’s thoughts, so we both came to offer and unofficial alliance for the years until we graduate Hogwarts.”

Harry turned to Blaise, who nodded. “We are both delighted to accept your offer, Heiress Greengrass, Heir Nott.” He stretched out his hand. “To a fruitful cooperation.”

“And to many successful plots” replied Daphne, shaking his hand. Blaise grinned.

“I think this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship.”

 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please comment, because comments are loved and if you are loved everything - like writing new chapters - is a bit easier.


	5. “Victory of Life” by Future World Music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, our WiFi connection decided to die after having struggled the whole weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a sentence which I am not sure of: “a euphoric” greeting, while my brain keeps telling me it should be “an euphoric”, auto correct keeps telling me otherwise. Could anyone please clarify?  
> Also, sorry for google translate Greek. If anyone who speaks Greek could please leave me a comment with the translation of “Wisdom and an open mind” I would be most grateful.  
> This chapter contains: more UST for two certain founders, “Hail Caesar!” references

Harry stood high above the cliff island. The towers of the Cathedral far beneath him, the low hanging clouds – which he had torn apart, so that the sun would shine through – were around him. Under his feet was nothing but air. Up here nothing separated him from the endless skies above. Four years had passed faster than he could have imagined, with the constant training in elemental control, lessons in decorum and politics, combat exercise and learning wandless magic.

Blue eyes scanned the horizon, pushing newly forming clouds out of his line of sight. It was almost time now. Because today was the day…

He felt the west wind tug at his pyjama shirt. While only semi-sentient, the west wind had taken a fast liking to Harry. While the wind could not talk (not surprising) he could understand Harry (very surprising) and more often than not had helped to dry laundry or to clean the garden of the monastery from fallen leaves.

Another wind, this one coming from the north, asked for Harry’s attention, as he apparently had news for him. This of course caused the west wind to pout (if you cannot imagine that, just think of the blast of hot air that comes at you if you open a hot oven too fast) and poke at the north wind. The north wind jabbed back, completely forgetting what he wanted Harry’s attention for. As the two directional winds were brawling with each other, the east wind carried a traumatized looking owl towards Harry.

It was one of the Hogwarts school owls, which Harry had been expecting since dawn. Suddenly suspicious of the owl’s condition he turned to the east wind. “Did you and the north wind argue about who gets to carry the owl?” narrowing his eyes at the east wind, which was weird since he could not see the wind.

The owl bobbed down and up again, so the east wind had probably did the wind equivalent of the human “shoulder shrug of uncaringness”. Sighing Harry took the still catatonic owl into his arms and started to return to the ground. Easily jumping from one wind to the next, letting himself glide a bit and finally touching the roof or the cathedral with his bare feet. He had gotten up before dawn to look for the owl and it was now half past eight, meaning it was the perfect time for breakfast.

Releasing the owl with a gentle breeze, Harry watched her fly away, before looking at the letter in his hand. “Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus” he read aloud. What the hell?

“Master Harry’s be’s coming? Breakfast is ready.” Informed a slightly excited looking house elf.

“Of course, I’ll be right there.” Jumping from the roof – of course cushioning his fall with wind – he landed on one of the archways, which supported the cathedrals wall (AN: I have no clue what these are called but if you take a look at the east side of Notre Dame in Paris, you’ll know what I mean), slid downwards to jump onto a lower arch, ran upwards again and did a somersault through a window whose glass had been removed for this very purpose.

Letting the wind carry his light frame (no matter how much Salazar tried to make him gain weight) he fell right into the comfortable leather vintage armchair that he had claimed as his own on the breakfast table. Grinning, still pumped up with adrenalin from his stunt, he greeted both of his adoptive fathers with a euphoric: “Good Morning! Isn’t today a simply wonderful day?”

Godric, who was a notorious morning person, grinned as well: “Why yes Harry, today is a perfect day, at least in my opinion.”

“What has you in such a good mood?”

“I got a full night’s sleep without any nightmares and was awoken by the sun shining through my window this morning. What about you?”

While Harry was happy that his father’s nightly terrors had stopped, he could not suppress an internal groan. For a moment he had hoped that both of his chosen parent’s would have finally gotten their act together, it had been almost four years after all. Still he put on a bright and happy mask, which was not very hard to do since his mood –while a bit dampened – was still spectacular.

“Got my Hogwarts letter! Can we go shopping today? I’d like to get it out of the way and Blaise said he would also go once the letter arrived. By the way, why is the school motto “Never tickle a sleeping Dragon”?”

Godric’s face gained a haunted look at these words. From afar you could hear the roar of a dragon.

At this point, their conversation – or interrogation as far as Harry was concerned - was cut short. Salazar – who was definitely NOT a morning person – stumbled into the kitched, seen there by a house elf who waved lime green glow sticks to show the way. Another house elf was already pulling the chair out, whilst a third one put a cup of black coffee in front of Salazar, who had been pushed into the seat by the house elf with the glow sticks. Luckily the coffee elf remained to prevent Salazar diving head first into the steaming beverage. Instead the Slytherin’s face smashed into a buttered croissant that the elves had not been fast enough to save this time. Salazar grumbled something against the plate.

The two already coherent family members did not pay attention to the whole scene, already used to it, as it was a daily occurrence. If you do not count the French pastry adorning Salazar’s face. That only happened once or twice in a month.

Harry saw a perfect opportunity to find out more information. So when Salazar slowly removed the pastry from his face –while muttering curses most unsuited for Harry’s ears – the boy put on an innocent smile and asked: “Salazar? Why is the Hogwarts motto “Never tickle a sleeping dragon”?”

Salazar’s slightly drowsy expression contorted into a grimace depicting true horror before becoming a pale white mask. From afar you could hear the roar of a dragon.

“What makes you ask that?” came the monotone, slightly stuttered reply. A circumstance that Harry had never ever imagined. Whatever the two were hiding it was a story He. Needed. To. Know. NOW!

“His Hogwarts letter arrived.” Answered a still shocked looking Godric.

“Oh, that is simply… fabulous. We should go shopping! Right now! Come on, let us get dressed, there is no time to waste!” With that Salazar fled the table, closely followed by Godric. Leaving Harry at the table. There was no way he was getting off of that trail now, he would find out! Because if their behaviour had been suspicious before, now it went of the meters! For never ever, in no universe should Salazar Slytherin ever under no circumstances ever even think of using the word “fabulous”!

_“I don’t think you’ll do that Mr. Whitlock. What if we told the truth about “On wings as eagles”?” – Movie quote from “Hail Caesar!”_

They met Blaise, Angiola and Sirius at the Leaky Cauldron. The place was buzzing with excitement because rumour had it that Daniel Potter would come to Diagon Alley today to do his school shopping. Harry found the whole charade to be more than stupid. There was a whole column in the Daily Prophet just dedicated to report on the “Boy-Who-Lived”. It was a daily column. If Daniel Potter accidentally cut his finger on a piece of parchment you could bet that most of the younger magical generation would sport similar cuts on that finger for the following two weeks. Or that a fund to “Save the Saviour’s Spotless Skin” was created. That last one actually happened when a six-year-old Daniel Potter got a splash of ink onto his cheek. It still didn’t stop every 5-25 year old wizard to recreate the exact same spot on their cheeks. By the end of the month they had even sold charms that would give you the perfectly copied ink spot to wear on your face.

Harry thanked Lady Magic and all the Spirit Kings that he was not his brother. Because had he been, he would have been the “Boy-Who-Lived-To-Only-Kill-Himself-Because-Of-Society’s-Stupidity”.

Due to Harry’s talent at manipulation, he managed to catch Angiola alone. Of course not all of it was thanks to him alone. He had told Blaise of his guardian’s strange behaviour, the incubus had been more than happy to help Harry get some one-on-one-time with Angiola. It had also been Blaise’s idea to ask the succubus Lady, since Harry had totally forgotten that his Godmother had also been one of Salazar’s star pupils, so there was a chance she would know.

“Aunt Angie?” Harry asked in his cutest voice that made him sound like an innocent angel but fake and stupid. His godmother smiled at him: “What is it, darling?”

“Why is the Hogwarts motto “Never tickle a sleeping Dragon”?”

His godmother’s face went ashen. From afar you could hear the roar of a dragon.

“Ah, look, honey we fell back quite a bit, we should catch up with the others!”

When Harry caught Blaise’s questioning look, he nodded. Angiola knew something.

The grown-ups left them at Madam Malkin’s to purchase the potion’s ingredients. Next to them was a nervous looking girl with bushy hair and rather prominent front teeth.

“Hello. I am Hadrian Emrys-LeFay. The person next to me is Blaise Zabini-Black. Who are you?”

“My name is Hermione Granger. Emrys and LeFay aren’t those the two imperial houses that the Gryffindor and Slytherin lines descended from? And isn’t the Black family a founding member of the Wizengamot?”

Blaise grinned. “Ten points to your future house, Heiress Granger.”

The girl blushed: “Oh, I’m no heiress. I’m a muggleborn.”

“Are you sure? Must muggle-raised students are actually from squib lines of pureblood families. I for example was abandoned by my family and send to…inappropriate muggle… relations. Turns out that while my family disowned my I was actually also heir to several other houses when I took an Inheritance test. Maybe if you took one too you could find out some very interesting things. We could go together?”

“Ah, I am here with Professor McGonagall. She is waiting outside somewhere.” Hermione looked very dejected having to refuse their invitation.

Both Harry and Blaise gave a smile to the insecure girl. “No worries. If we tell her that you’ll be with us and our parents, I am sure she will say it is okay.”

Soon enough they left the robe shop and asked the Professor for permission. The elderly lady was more than happy to let Hermione accompany her future classmates to the bank, waving the girl off with well-wishes. (It probably had something to do with Sirius being present and the tiny unknown fact that Minerva McGonagall was not light as she seemed).

_“Aeon” – by Nick Murray (from “Cinderella” 2015)_

“Inheritance test of Hermione Jane Granger:

Ms Granger is a true muggleborn, allowing her to form her own noble house. Her family line can be dated back to 1632, when Sir Fitzwilliam Elliott Granger was given knighthood by Charles I.

As it is, her family is an Ancient and Noble House, which - along her “newly formed” status - allows her two votes in the Wizengamot.

A Head of House ring can be formed at any point in time she wishes.

She is also eligible for receiving Lady Magic’s blessing and can set up a vault any time she wishes.”

Everyone present was shell-shocked. A true muggleborn was very rare and one to jump directly to Ancient and Noble status was almost unheard of.

Hermione sat up a bit straighter. Turning to Steelclaw who had offered to supervise the test she stated: “I am very new to this world, so could you please explain what all the terms above would entail if accepted them?”

The Goblin gave a rare smile, Lady Magic had chosen well with that one, he could feel it in his bones. “The setting up of a vault is pretty much the same as setting up a bank account. Getting a Head of House ring means that your family name will be put into the list of Wizengamot seats. It will also give your house a coat of Arms.

Lastly receiving Lady Magic’s blessings. The blessing always contains knowledge of everything Lady Magic thinks you need to know, manners, traditions, dresses, Manors. She also marks the family traits she wants your clan to have and will straighten out your appearance. In some very rare cases she even gifts you a creature inheritance or title of an extinct line.”

Hermione tilted her head a bit. “I would be honoured to be gifted with whatever Lady Magic deems suitable. I have seen how prejudiced some of the wizards are and I would like to use the power I got so that I can open their minds at least bit. I want to be someone who wisely helps carve a new path for the wizarding world.” Suddenly she slapped her hands in front of her mouth.

“I am so sorry!” she stuttered. “That must have sounded completely arrogant and smart-alecky!”

Surprisingly it was Salazar who calmed the girl down: “Do not despair. What you just said were the goals and motto for your family. Wisdom and open-mindedness. It always sounds rather over-the-top when a muggleborn founds their family. But look, Lady Magic seems to be more than happy with your strive.” With that he raised the girl’s hand up for everyone to see. On her pointer finger was a dark silver ring with a moonstone lilac blossom inlay. The middle of the blossom was made up by a royal purple amethyst. Around the ring where the words: “Sofía kai anoichtó myaló” written in lilac letters.

“Wisdom and an open mind. In Greek, huh?” whispered Hermione. “It’s beautiful.”

Steelclaw politely cleared his throat. Pushing two papers over to Hermione to look at. The first was a document setting up the family vault. Hermione carefully read through it and signed it. The next was the list of blessings received from Lady Magic.

“Family traits:

  * Brown hair, bushy during youth, but will smoothen out once puberty is reached
  * Lilac tint of the iris
  * Buckteeth which will correct themselves during puberty
  * Smooth, porcelain skin
  * Naturally slim bodies



Magical family talents:

  * Light to Grey aligned magical cores
  * Greatly adept with Runes
  * Magic sensitive



Other blessings:

  * A starting budget of 500 000 Galleons
  * Heir in Mind to the Imperial House of Ravenclaw”



Hermione sat back in her chair looking completely lost. Godric looked stumped and Salazar…did a victory dance?

Hermione’s now slightly violet eyes snapped to the two Founders: “You are way too old to be 26 and 29 years old!” She narrowed her eyes at them, analysing.

“You are… how is that possible? I mean it’s impossible! How? And than this!” she held up the paper she had just read. “At first I am muggleborn and now suddenly heir to an Imperial House! This cannot be happening!”

Harry was confused what to do. On instinct he reached out with his winds, looking for something to calm his friend down. There! Suddenly a stream of fragrant lilac flowers came in through the open window, gathering around Hermione and slowly easing her anxiety.

“It’s alright. An “Heir in Mind” is simply someone who resumes an extinct line. That means the founder of the original line, the last heir to the line, Lady Magic and Lady Fate have to approve of you. In short this” he pointed to the parchment “Is simply some more proof that you will become a great witch.”

Hermione gave a grateful smile.

_“Curiosity killed the cat.”_

They were about to leave the bank when one of the guards stopped Harry and Salazar from leaving.

“The King has requested a meeting with you. He said it is about an inquiry you made earlier this year about your ward. Please follow me.”

Godric threw a worried look at Salazar. The ravenette acted casually: “Don’t worry, just go to Flourish and Blott’s, we’ll meet you at Ollivander’s.”

With that he put his hand between Harry’s shoulders, gently guiding the boy with him.

Harry had been to King Ragnok’s office a few times before. The goblin was ancient and managed the Imperial accounts. He also had a great sense of humour and was nice to kids. But getting called to his office somehow made Harry anxious. Had he done something wrong? Did Salazar and Godric not want him anymore? Had he been annoying?

His adoptive father noticed his change in mood. “You did nothing wrong. I just noticed something is harming you and wanted confirmation from the goblins if it truly is what I think it is. This meeting has been called in because my assumption has been proven correct.”

“And what did you assume?”

“That night, when the Dark Lord’s spell backfired from your brother, a part of his already damaged soul was cut off and sealed into your scar.”

“You mean I am a human soul carrier? But that is some extremely fiendish magic! And you implied he split his soul more than once!” exclaimed Harry.

“Indeed. This is why the family magic never accepted him as an heir. So it went to your mother, who in turn gave it to you.”

“But why not Daniel? He is the elder brother.”

“Lady Magic chose you the worthier one of the two twins. For reasons we may never know. But looking at you, I think she could not have chosen more perfectly.”

_“But satisfaction brought it back.”_

When Harry woke up to a grinning Ragnok. The king of Goblins had taken it upon himself to remove the soul shard personally.

“Say, Lord Ragnok?”

“Yes, Hadrian?” the goblin king was the only goblin whom Harry managed to convince that it was alright to use his first name when addressing him.

“I just remembered that you were the Ancient Runes teacher when Hogwarts was first founded so I wondered, could you tell me why the school motto is “Never tickle a sleeping Dragon”?”

The grin on Ragnok’s face froze. From afar you could hear the roar of a dragon.

_“Letters from Hogwarts” by John Williams (from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, duh)_

Ollivander was an elderly wizard, at least that what he seemed like. Salazar told him that the wand maker had also been one of their first students. As he was three quarters dark elf, he had lived through the centuries and it showed something about the wizarding society’s common sense that they still thought him a normal human.

While Salazar was waiting outside, claiming to “tank a bit of sun before going into that dusty shop” Harry had already entered the shop, patiently waiting for Ollivander to appear.

“I did not expect to see you Mr Potter. No, Emrys-LeFay. You are so adept at wandless magic that using a wand would be a bit stupid, no?”

“I am still required to get one for school. And I have it on good authority that your wands are so perfectly created that they will become like another limb when a match is found.”

“Ah, your guardians speak too highly of me. But I am more than happy to have you here. Your ex-brother was here before and it was not a pleasant experience, he told me he would come back later as he wanted the shop for himself and I was helping other customers at the moment. But fortunately I have it on good authority that you are very different from your twin.” A small smile graced Ollivander’s lips.

“I most certainly hope so. But there is another question bugging me. Do you know why the Hogwarts motto is “Never tickle a sleeping Dragon”?”

Life faded from Ollivander’s pale eyes. From afar you could hear the roar of a dragon.

The wand maker only snapped out of it when the rest of the group entered.

He practically pounced on Hermione, examining her closely. Then he summoned a wand box, holding it out to the consternated witch.

Lilac and blue smoke swirls came from the wand when the girl gave it a wave. “Nine and a half inches, Maple and Walnut, dragon heart string. A certain…thirst for knowledge and adventure”

He quickly turned to Blaise, also handing him a box. Like before with Hermione the wand fit perfectly. “10 and a half inches. Aspen and Pine, also dragon heart. A wand for flamboyant charm work.”

He took a long look at Harry. Then he handed him two boxes. Opening the first, Harry waved the wand. Red and Golden sparks flew. But something did not feel right. “11 and a half inches. Holly. Phoenix feather. Brother wand to You-Know-Who’s wand. I know someone charmed it to fit one of the Potter twins. But as I can see, the wand feels that it should not be with you. So please, try the other one.”

Waving the wand, gave Harry the same feeling like using his wind powers. Safety. Freedom. Power. Ollivander nodded. “11 inches, Blackthorn and Rowan, as the Phoenix wouldn’t quite connect with the wood I added the dragon heart string. This is the wand of a warrior. I will have to warn you that I have little to no idea how the dual core will work out, but from what I have just seen, I am certain you will be just fine.”

 

_“I wasn’t that drunk”_

_“Dude! You glared at my cat, asking why it killed Mufasa.”_

Hermione, Blaise, Godric, Salazar, Angiola and Sirius stood outside a familiar shop in Knockturn Alley. They had decided to wait outside, while Harry looked for a familiar, as an early birthday present.

“It’s gonna be a feline.” Claimed Godric.

“Nonsense it’ll be a snake!” scoffed Salazar.

“I think it’ll be avian! Harry’s is a Wind Contractor after all!” chipped Hermione into the argument.

“Yes!” agreed Ric “A Venetian Lion!”

“Nonsense.” Said Salazar.

“But there are no snakes with wings!” protested Godric.

“Ever heard of Quetzalcoatl? A feathered, flying snake? Mesoamerican God of Wind and Wisdom?” reminded a smug Salazar.

“Listen, Harry’s familiar will not be a snake, got it?” growled an angry Godric.

“Nonsense!” hissed an irritated Salazar “It’ll be a snake fit for a King!”

While the two where bickering, the remaining two grown-ups face-palmed.

“Can’t they just find a room and just fuck already?” groaned Angiola. Sirius gave an affirmative grunt.

Blaise looked surprised at his surrogate father. “You noticed?”

Sirius gave a perfect “duh” impression. “I’m a Gryffindor. Not blind. Or stupid. And by the looks of it these two have been putting the UST into L-UST since 990 and well before that.”

“You have no idea.” Sighed Angiola.

“What does UST mean?” asked Hermione

“Nothing that concerns you, darling.” Angiola smiled at the only girl of the group. In just a few short hours she had developed a huge soft spot for the muggleborn. To her son however she hissed: “And don’t you dare tell her!”

Half an hour later – Salazar and Godric still were bickering, well bickering with close physical contact – Harry emerged from the pet shop with a normal sized pitch black egg. The egg was held in silver wire and could be worn around the neck.

Both founders froze. Godric groaned, letting his face falling onto Salazar’s shoulder as his hands were otherwise occupied. The Slytherin Founder himself looked like his worst nightmares had come true. Then he – still holding Godric’s head on his shoulder – raised his face to the heavens screaming: “What have I ever done to deserve this? When I said a snake fit for a King, I didn’t mean the King of Serpents!”

_“Voldemort is like a teenage girl._

_He has a diary, a tiara, a special cup, a pet he adores…_

_And an unhealthy obsession with a famous teenage boy.”_

_Unknown Source_

“Well then, we’ll see each other on September 1st. Promise me that you’ll write?”

“Of course we will Hermione. Every day if you want us to.” Assured Harry.

“I know, I’m just so…I feel like I’ll wake up any moment and find out this whole, amazing, perfect day has been a dream.”

“It’s not. This” Harry gently lifted Hermione’s hand with her Head of House ring. “And this” he pointed to the bag of books the girl had clutched tightly in her other hand “And this” he gave Hermione an affectionate kiss on the cheek. “Are proof of that.” He hugged his friend goodbye, then stepped back, allowing Blaise to do the same.

The three friends kept waving at each other until the Granger family car drove around a corner.

 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what they say about comments...


	6. “Entry into the Great Hall” by John Williams (from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The one-shot I promised in chapter 4 is up and posted, for those who haven’t noticed yet.  
> WARNING: overly annoying OC, modelled after an annoying class mate of mine who is treated like the next Merlin by my teachers.   
> Also Ronald Weasley bashing. I know Ron has his moments of occasional awesomeness in the books but I personally still don’t like him…Sorry for all Ron-Fans.  
> This chapter may contain what people could perceive as “Draco-Bashing”. It isn’t. I merely think that a spoiled kid like Malfoy has to be put through hell before he can even begin to change his mind. Said “hell” will only last for a few more chapters before he comes around.  
> Sirius and Angiola will be a permanent relationship. Normally I am a huge sucker for wolfstar but I thought maybe I should try out something new.  
> And Hermione can do karate. Because if I found out that my kid – if I’ll ever have one – was bullied in school, I would have somebody teach them how to defend themselves.

Harry straightened his school robes one last time, checking himself over for any unclean or messy spots. He found none. Snapping his fingers, his appearance was fixed with some simple charms, another snap and his shrunken trunk appeared in his palm. Looking at the mirror one last time he stepped towards the fire place which would safely transport them onto the platform.

“You know it is kind of useless to straighten your robes just before floo-travelling somewhere.” Godric commented.

Harry raised a brow. Godric scanned him another time. “A, nice spell work, these would probably not even budge if a guerrilla battle broke out around you.”

Salazar linked arms with Harry when stepping into the fireplace. Godric took his other arm and together they travelled to Platform 9 ¾ where the Zabini-Blacks were already waiting for them. Blaise instantly dragged Harry off towards the entrance via King’s Cross Station, to wait for Hermione.

“Well, well, well Richard, Solomon. How has life been treating you?” asked Angiola when she saw Godric’s and Salazar’s arms had linked after Harry had let go of them.

“Oh, same old, same old. Harry’s ability to cast silently sky-rocketed after we removed the Horcrux of Voldemort. Salazar says he has some theories as to how it got there, but will need further proof. Harry also got really good at hiding his magical signature. Most of the time we have to look twice to make sure the door we are about to go through or the thing we are about to use has not been tampered with. Dammit that boy is a prankster.” Godric told them proudly.

“He got that from you. Or at least your side of the family. Gryffindor is the house of tricksters and mischief after all.” Salazar grumbled.

“You’re just grumpy that Slytherin never managed to win a prank war…At least not in our time…with the way things have been going I think neither house would start a prank war. They would just curse each other.” The red head looked dejected.

“None of the houses are what they used to be. But I know with the help of our…ward, and his friends Hogwarts will become united again.”

Angiola frowned. “You know, I have sensed a certain hesitation to call Harry your son. Where does it come from?”

The two founders looked at each other. “To us Harry is our son. But…we just don’t know if he is alright with us saying so.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Listen, Harry loved Lily and James, or at least the people they were before Dumbledore happened. But to him, his biological father died on Samhain 2001 and his mother died 2005 after a long illness. He considers you his parents, but like you he is shy to admit it, because he does not want to sound pompous by claiming to Founders to be his parents.”

“Onto lighter topics, what is this about prank wars I hear? This is enviable. A whole school in pranking fever…wished I had been there.” Sirius gazed off dreamily.

Angiola laughed. “Yeah, I know you… would’ve loved it…” Then she just smiled mysteriously at Sirius.

Salazar gave Sirius a thorough look. “Now I see it.” He turned to Angiola. “You found him!” The succubus nodded.

Sirius raised an eye-brow: “Is there something I should know about?”

The succubus distracted him by simply kissing him out of the blue. The Black Lord’s eyes widened a bit, then he kissed back in a “Well if you want to distract me, it’s working” manner.

Godric’s eyes slipped to Salazar’s lips for a split second before the red head blushed and turned away.

Salazar eyed him warily before leaning over and asking “Do you think we should tell them that only less than 2% of a normal soul where inside the scar, meaning that there are other Horcruxes the so-called Dark Lord created?”

“Well, then you could also tell them that you did not destroy the shard but placed it in the high-security vault to see if the parts we collected could be brought together without the last acting piece.”

Salazar sighed. “I know. I’m just worried. I cannot rid myself of the feeling that something horrible is going to happen.”

“The only thing that could happen is that Harry gets into Gryffindor and that is not horrible at all.”

“He wouldn’t!”

“Oh, but he would.”

“Would not!”

“Would!”

“Wouldn’t!”

“Would”

“Wouldn’t”

“Would!”

“Would!”

“Wouldn’t! …DAMMIT!”

“I wonder when you’ll ever stop falling for that trick?”

_“Love is like quicksand._

_If you fall in there is no way out.”_

“Remember to write?” asked Godric

“Yes.” sighed Harry.

“Promise to not do anything stupid? Like causing mischief`, pranking everyone, making the life of you brother generally miserable?” questioned Salazar

“…”

“At least don’t get caught… And make sure to tell us if anything seems off.” Gave Salazar in.

“Yes.”

“And…have a nice year…son.” Said Salazar while Godric ruffled Harry’s hair.

 Harry beamed. “I will…Father, Dad.” Hugging them both Goodbye before boarding the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

Salazar hissed in Parseltongue after him: “Remember, the Hogwarts student index still lists you as a Potter, why don’t you correct their mistake…during the sorting?”

Harry smirked. “I will.” He hissed back.

Soon joined by his friend who had gotten similar speeches from their parent, they started looking for an empty compartment. They found one the end of the train, in a waggon that usually housed the Slytherin alumni. Once they had settled everything, Blaise pulled out a small frame out of his bag. He set it between them where it stayed floating. He then pulled out small, differently coloured rune stones.

“This is kind of the magical version of an iPad. Mom created it because even with the strongest protection charms any electronic device would break down when taken to Hogwarts. This will still allow us to play our favourite games, as she used an information copying spell on the data packages. I have to admit, Sirius helped her a lot. I’m telling you the man is a genius when it comes to this kind of magic. He was also the one to propose using runes and Arithmancy when transferring the electric impulses into magic.”

Slowly Blaise dropped a marine blue rune stone into the frame. The rune stone stopped mid fall, a bit beneath the frame, began to spin and slowly, like ripples in water, the frame filled with a game board. In this case Harbour Master.

“Oh, we haven’t played that in a long time!” exclaimed Harry. “Ok, Hermione, you take care of the orange boats, Blaise, you take on the purple ones and I’ll manage the green ones!”

While unsure at first, Hermione quickly came to adore the game as it needed quick thinking and a logistic mind to accomplish. They tried out several lay-outs until they became bored and Blaise deactivated the game by snatching away the rune stone.

“Chess?” Blaise asked. Hermione shook her head.

“There is some correspondence from Gringotts I need to take care of. I have proposed a few investments to them and wanted to know whether or not these are trustworthy. I also asked if they would support the notion of basic house elf rights. I know that house elves need a master to survive, but I think that groundless violence against them should not be condoned.”

“That actually sounds very good. Most house elves are forced to punish themselves for misdoings they didn’t commit because some spoiled young heir doesn’t want to deal with the consequences of their mistakes.” Answered a grim-faced Harry.

Blaise scoffed. “I know for a fact that Malfoy uses one certain elf to blame anything on. The thing that makes me so mad is the fact that he is actually not dumb or weak. He is just spoiled and believes that his father will take care of him forever.”

“Let’s not talk about Malfoy that sours everybody’s mood. I think we should let Hermione answer her letters and we two should play a game of chess. I bet you won’t be able to beat me, Blaisie.”

The Italian boy shuddered at the nickname. “I will try my best. However, should I, against all odds, win against you, you must promise to never call me by that gruesome name ever again.”

By the time they were half through the game, the train had left London and the service trolley came around. Hermione had been hesitant at first, since her parents were dentists. That attitude had changed quickly however, when she found that there was teeth whitening candy in the wizarding world.

Harry and Blaise had no such inhibitions. They bought everything the trolley had to offer, convincing Hermione that she should try some too and that she could always protect her teeth with charms. Soon enough the pre-teens were daring each other to try different Bertie Bott’s Beans.

Right now Hermione was nibbling on one particular bean that neither Blaise nor Harry had ever seen before.

“Sorry, I just cannot get it. My taste buds are so numb from all the different flavours that I am surprised that I can taste anything at all.”

“Well, it’s not surprising, you are just a muggleborn. Of course you would know nothing of the fine skills it takes to decode a Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Bean.” Said a haughty voice from the compartment door.

Blaise groaned, Harry rolled his eyes. Both boys had decided that there was no use to hide their emotions when they had yet to be sorted. After all there was no guarantee that they would end up in Slytherin. Angiola had been a Ravenclaw, Sirius a lion and Harry’s parents…well that much is obvious, right? As for Hermione both boys where not sure whether she would become a lion or a raven. Both houses would acquire a wonderful student that was for sure.

Back to the topic at hand, Malfoy was still ranting about his family’s superiority and some other nonsense when Hermione stood up, cast a silent “Sonorus” and delivered a retaliation that would –several decades later – be printed into every “Hogwarts – A History” edition:

“First of all, you have neither introduced yourself – as politeness would demand it – nor have asked for my name – which shows poor manners especially when you have never met me before – nor have you been invited in. You just barged in here, insulted me and now demand that I pay respect to you because your family has been completely magical for the last five generations. So not only do you want me to honour you for something you have done nothing for but you also renounce your status by acting completely out of place. Now as to go along as custom demands, please allow me to introduce myself: I am Hermione Jean Granger, Head of House of the Ancient and Noble House of Granger, which is set to become an Ancient and Most Noble House be the end of this year. I am not only a founder of a new line but Lady Magic has granted me the title of “Heir in Mind” to the Ravenclaw line. To make this short: You are nothing but dirt under my feet, Heir Malfoy! Now leave before I PHYSICALLY AND MAGICALLY REMOVE YOU FROM MY SIGHT, YOU LITTLE FUCKWIT!”

With that she kneeled Malfoy in the crotch, slammed the compartment door onto his fingers and then sent him away with a banishing spell which she dramatically cast wandlessly. With a huff she also hexed his half troll bodyguards into vegetative beings that looked like a disgusting mix between cockroaches, slugs and… something.

Sitting down she crossed her arms, threw one leg over the other and gave one last indignant huff. Her wand was still shooting sparks. Blaise applauded, star-struck. Harry wondered if he imagined the look of utter amazement he saw Malfoy give Hermione before she banished him.

A knock on the door had them all look up. Hermione opened and let Theo and Daphne in.

Theo grinned at Blaise and Harry: “We were looking for you two. Then we heard Malfoy getting stumped and decided that we needed to meet this incredible young Lady who had the gall to face him directly.” Here he nodded respectfully at Hermione. “And it seems we got lucky twice. Why Hadrian, you seem to gather the most interesting people around you. The antisocial Incubus. The Ice Princess of the dark section” This particular nick-name earned him an elbow between the ribs from Daphne “The Heir of Ravenclaw and moi, the skittish Nott-Heir.”

Daphne turned to Hermione: “Please excuse my companion’s atrocious manners. My name is Daphne Greengrass, Heiress to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Greengrass.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Heiress Greengrass. I believe you – and the rest of the train – know my name by now.”

Daphne, who normally showed little to none emotion, gave a hearty laugh and started to discuss Hermione’s aspirations and the current political debate with her. Harry and Blaise resumed their chess game – which had been abandoned at some point after the sweets trolley came around – with Theo trying to help Blaise.

Unfortunately their new-found peace would not last for long. Daniel Potter and his notorious side-kick, Ronald Weasley, showed up uninvited. Weasley started to help himself to the left-over sweets, while Potter simply sat down next to Hermione.

“We heard you give Malfoy a piece of you mind. And we wanted to congratulate you. You have a good judgement of people since you were able to call bullshit on his bigotry. So we came here to save you from his inbred little friends trying to get some petty pay-back and to show you the right way to be a witch!” He stretched out his hand.

Harry watched the person he should have grown up to call brother. Daniel’s face was the carbon copy of James’, he would be handsome once he hit puberty, his cross scar enhancing his good looks and giving them an exotic and wild edge. So without a doubt Daniel was the picture one had in mind when it came to an adventurous kind-hearted Saviour of the Light. Harry wondered how else his brother fit that image. He doubted it was more than a superficial façade.

SLAP a red hand print was now adorning Daniel’s face. “LISTEN! AS I HAVE ALREADY RELAYED TO BLONDIE THE NITWIT, I HAVE NO INTEREST IN GETTING BOSSED AROUND BY RICH BOYTOYS SUCH AS YOU! TO PUT IT IN TERMS YOU MAY UNDERSTAND: FUCK OFF YOU SHITFACED FUCKTARD!” And with that she round house kicked Daniel Potter and the Ginger Wonder out of their compartment.

For the second time in less than an hour, Hermione had earned the applause of Blaise, though now the incubus was joined by Theo and Daphne. Harry was pretty sure his brother would start to develop a crush on Hermione if she kept defying him like that. Potter men were wired that way.

Well, he was not, but he did not exactly qualify as a Potter anymore. Not only had he shed the family traits, he had become a whole different person. Sure his hair was still black and his eyes still almond shaped, he still held family in high regards and would die – or kill, whatever seemed more successful under the circumstances of whatever situation – for his loved ones. But he would not put his trust into an old goat-loving fool, nor would he follow the light. His hair was now more like Salazar’s, straight and silky, his eyes shone blue, showing the world his stigma if said world bothered to recognize it.

Yes, he had been born a Potter. But the last four years had ensured that he was no longer a Potter not only in name but in body and soul as well. He was Hadrian Zephyrus Emrys-LeFay, son to the most dysfunctional but perfect parents one could ever wish for. The son of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin.

Another knock brought the room into silence. Curiously the pre-teens looked at each other. Gingerly, Theo, who sat nearest to the door, slid it open.

Three people stumbled in. Or rather two people stumbled in, almost dragging a third with them. The third held himself on the doorframe for balance, giving the group a good chance to analyse him. He had hazel hair which shone golden in the afternoon sun. Silver eyes gave the two wizards on the ground an amused look. He had the body of a Quidditch player. He was a Hufflepuff.

By now the ginger haired twins had lifted themselves off the floor. They sparkled with barely contained excitement and mischief. That mischievousness spilled into their speech patterns:

“Hello there”

“Little firsties!”

“We just noticed”

“This wonderful young lady” at this they both mock-kissed Hermione’s hands.

“Kicking our pratty brother and the Boy Wonder”

“Out of the compartment”

“While sporting the same voice”

“That has earlier dressed down the Malfoy brat!”

“And so my twin and I”

“Along with this Adonis, aka Cedric Diggory”

“Wanted to get to know these miraculous people who oppose both junior pricks.”

“As for who we are”

“We are the wondrous”

“The one and only”

“Weasley twins”

“I am Gred”

“And I am Forge!”

“Or were you Fred”

“And you were George?”

Cedric groaned. “I am sorry about these two. They need constant attention or other forms of entertainment.” With that he dragged the twins out again, though not before telling Hermione how amazing she did.

As soon as the door closed again, Hermione face-palmed. “I’m so sorry!” she groaned. Embarrassment brought tears into her eyes. She hated to lose her temper like that. But if people rubbed her the wrong way she just could not let it go that simply.

Harry tsked: “Bitch, please, you were fabulous! If you hadn’t done it, I would have. I just wouldn’t have been so nice about it.” Changed seats, so that he sat next to Hermione, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he managed to make her sit upright: “Look, you showed those little suckers where they belong. Under your foot. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Now stop crying, it’ll ruin your skin.” Waving his hands, he let the wind carry away the tears.

Daphne and Theo stared. Blaise noticed. “Okay, Harry, now you’ve done it. You broke them!”

Harry turned. Then gave a small chuckle: “Ah, it never came up. Theo, Daphne, I am a Wind Contractor.”

Theo fainted.

_“Life is like a hurricane_

_Here in Hogwarts_

_Magic, Creatures, Quidditch games,_

_And talking portraits._

_Might solve a mystery_

_Or rewrite history in_

_HOGWARTS! Woohoo!_

_Everything we’re learning here in_

_HOGWARTS! Woohoo!_

_There are houses, red and green in_

_HOGWARTS! Woohoo!_

_D-d-d-danger, watch behind you,_

_There’s a Dark Lord out to find you_

_What to do, just run back into_

_HOGWARTS! Woohoo!”_

_Parody of the “Ducktales” Intro Song_

Hermione was the first to enter the boat, followed by Daphne and Theo. “No more than four in one boat!” called out the half-giant that had led the way here. So Harry pushed Blaise into the boat and went to look for a free place.

It must be his unlucky day because the only free seat left was with Daniel Potter, his ginger side-kick and a blonde girl, Harry recognized as the Brown Heiress. Daniel kept on talking about his opinions, which seemed to change every two minutes or so. The youngest Weasley son kept awing at him and the girl batted her eye-lashes.

When they were in the centre of the lake, Harry gave up. He stood on the rim of the boat and jumped. There were gasps all over the little group of boats. The gasps became shouts when they saw Harry rise above them, a black shadow against the late evening sky.

Slowly the Wind Contractor used the winds as steps to walk next to the boat with his friends. Hermione looked moderately impressed, having seen little displays of Harry’s power before. Theo and Daphne, who had only heard legends of the Contractors’ powers, stared in awe. Blaise rolled his eyes: “Show off!” he scoffed.

Harry walked on air, quite literally. “But Blaise, I had no other chance to escape the violent nightmares which would have haunted my dreams because of the inane chatter that my ex-brother calls meaningful conversation.”

Blaise scoffed again. “You could have found a more subtle way to use your powers.”

Harry shrugged. “Yes, I may have tried to show off. But it’ll safe me the trouble later on.”

Blaise gave a long-suffering sigh, having gotten used to Harry’s brand of logic long ago.

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful – if you count out their first look at the magnificent Hogwarts Castle – and maybe a bit too soon the group found themselves in the Great Hall, staring at the Sorting Hat.

Professor McGonagall started to call out their names.

“Abbott, Hannah” became the first Hufflepuff.

“Brown, Lavender” followed quickly afterwards, becoming the first Gryffindor.

While the names were called, Hermione started explaining the spells behind the ceiling of the Great Hall, Theo and Daphne were listening closely. Blaise leaned towards Harry: “I dare you to fly up there and touch the ceiling.”

“Only if you can make Parkinson kiss you.”

“Fuck you.”

“While I appreciate your admiration, could you wait for a few years? I want to even the field concerning the creature blood.”

“Granger, Hermione” the hall was silent. Word travels fast and many had heard Hermione scream at Malfoy and heard later from their friends that she had showed Daniel Potter his place as well. Now they were just dying to know where the fiery Lady of Ravenclaw would go to.

The Lions wanted her because she was feisty.

The Badgers hoped that she would be in their house, because she was just and stood up to bullies.

Even some snakes hoped that she would join them, having shown off her excellent spell craft.

_“I see. Brave and loyal, no doubt. Some ruthlessness as well. But I still think that I will go with the obvious choice:”_

“RAVENCLAW!”

Hermione gave a relieved sigh. With a little skip in her steps she joined the cheering Ravens.

“Greengrass, Daphne.”

_“Well, there is honour and political smartness. You are clever and loyal to those who prove themselves worthy. So that makes it easy for me:”_

“SLYTHERIN!”

The sorting merrily went on.

“Malfoy, Draco”

“SLYTHERIN!”

Blaise and Harry groaned. This could get annoying very fast.

“Nott, Theodore”

  _“Not sure about you. While you are cunning and polite, your intellect is what defines you. And the wish to stand free of your father’s shadow. But putting you into Gryffindor, where you would be free, you would be in danger as well…but Slytherin is out of the question…so it is:”_

“RAVENCLAW!”

Theo joined the Ravens, sinking down into the seat beside Hermione. He looked relieved and somehow as if he just escaped prison.

Then there was the moment everyone had been waiting for:

“Potter, Daniel.”

“GRYFFINDOR!” the red and gold table broke out into almost manic applause.

“Potter, Hadrian” Silence. No one had known that the Boy-Who-Lived had a twin!

Harry slowly stood up. Turning to McGonagall, he stated, clear for all of the teachers and the student body: “Professor McGonagall, I took on another name when I was blood-adopted by my parents. My name is Hadrian Emrys-LeFay. If you need confirmation, please contact Gringotts.”

He sat down gracefully on the stool, the Sorting Hat fell over his eyes.

He heard the old voice immediately after the fabric over his ears and face had started drowning out the noises of the Great Hall:

_“Oh, yes, very interesting. Great intellect, a clever mind. Logic is one of your many strong points. A sense of justice and practicality, not afraid to dirty your hands either, if it gets the job done. You value manners and have a certain recklessness. But it all pales in comparison to your ambition, your political talent, your ruthless use of any of your resources and of course your good manners and taste. You are polite, you are cunning, you are”_

“SLYTHERIN!”

“I have one more question! Why is the school’s motto “Never tickle a sleeping Dragon”?”

The hat went slack on Harry’s head. From afar you could hear the roar of a dragon.

Blaise was the last to be sorted and like Harry, he became a snake. Sitting down between Harry and Daphne, the three soon had the attention of all of Slytherin house on them. Harry ignored his house mates’ stares as well as the headmaster’s words. Except for the part about the forbidden corridor (and really? How dumb can you get? Telling teenagers with magical powers that they are not allowed to go somewhere…Seriously, that is downright stupid!).

As the feast began, Harry and Blaise made polite conversation with each other and some of the second years who sat close by. The Wind Contractor asked specific questions about some of the teachers, the skittish Quirrell, who had arrived after the Sorting, the strict Professor McGonagall, good-natured Sprout, half-goblin Flitwick and the dour greasy-haired Professor Snape. Well, at least the potions master was glamoured to look that way. Harry could not see what he really looked like from a distance but he could see the flicker in appearance that showed the disguise was there.

_“Sometimes, I feel like giving up._

_Then I remember:_

_I have a lot of motherfuckers to prove wrong.”_

_Unknown source_

The common room door had not even closed yet as Malfoy tried to verbally tear Harry a new one. “Tried” being the operative word here. Because before a word could leave the blonde’s mouth Harry stretched out his raised pointer finger in Malfoy’s general direction, not even looking at the blonde he coolly stated:

“Before you say anything, Heir Malfoy, please let me remind you, that you should talk to a wall instead of me. For the wall is more likely to care.”

“How dare you! You are nothing!”

“Are you hard of hearing? I introduced myself as Hadrian Emrys-LeFay.”

Malfoy looked confused.

“I will quote my friend, Hermione Granger here, because her words seemed to get through to you: “To make it short: You are nothing but dirt…under…my…feet!”” Harry paused between the final words for dramatic effect. It worked.

The blonde opened his mouth again.

Only to be interrupted by a portrait above the fireplace: “I think I win that bet, do I not? I betted that you would get sorted into Slytherin and that it would take approximately 10 seconds for you to get annoyed with the ferret.”

The older Slytherin’s shook in fear. Because that frame above the fire place was reserved for the Founder of their house. The Founder who was merrily talking to the enigmatic Emrys-LeFay heir.

“Do you have to interrupt now? The fun was about to start!” hissed Harry exasperatedly in Parsel.

“Sorry, I cannot have you torture dorm mates on the first evening. It would not look good on your curriculum vitae.” Replied Salazar in the same language.

“Don’t you have a Gryffindor to collect your winnings from? And to fuck against several surfaces in the house?” retorted Harry, making the already hissy language sound all the more dangerous.

Salazar had the audacity to laugh at that. “Thank you for these wonderful ideas.” He commented in English.

Harry rolled his eyes. Continuing in the human language he growled: “Go! Find Godric! And stop taking your sexual frustration out on me, as you can see, I have enough problems already!”

“Well, then, Good night.”

“Good night, father… And please tell Godric, I mean Dad, Good Night as well for me.”

“I will, my son.” With that the Slytherin Founder left the portrait.

The Silence lasted for more than two minutes. Then the calm voice of Professor Snape cut through the air: “Mr. Pucey, please be so kind as to fetch Madam Pomfrey. I believe several members of the Prefect body and the Quidditch team just fainted.”

“I think Daphne did too, Professor.” Added a collected Blaise, who was used to this kind of interaction between Salazar and Harry, between father and son.

Snape gave a long sigh. “Please go up to your dorms. I will give my start-of-the-year-speech tomorrow morning.”

Harry grinned. His time in Hogwarts was most certainly going to be great!

 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super-long chapter, because I will most likely not update anymore this weekend, so this is some extra reading as an apology.  
> Comments are love.
> 
> My request list is free for anyone who wants a one-shot for Harry Potter. Or Axis Powers Hetalia. Just give me a pairing/friendship/character, a prompt (one word, phrase, sentence, conversation snippet) and whether you would like it fluffy, angsty and so on.
> 
> You'll probably hear from me soon.


	7. “Special Delivery for the King” by Paul Haslinger (“The three Musketeers”, 2011)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is FANfiction. I do not own the source material. Because then it would be called AUTHORfiction.  
> Also, you can request one-shots. (See the end notes for more information)

Harry woke up in his new dorm room. A smile formed on his face. The room was circular, had a high ceiling (as in cathedral-high ceiling) and the walls were completely covered in bookshelves. It seemed that the house elves had been so kind as to unload Harry’s library from his trunk.

The ceiling was a victorian window that gave a great view of the lake. Looking closely he could even see an entry to the lake, which of course was secured with anti-water and warming charms so that he could enter the lake but the water and the inhabitants of the lake could not enter his room. In the middle of the room was of course the bed he was laying on right now. It wasn’t one of the typical canopy beds of Hogwarts but a more modern king sized bed that did not even had a head board. So more like a very soft, very comfortable, big cuboid.

Looking around, Harry could see that the bookshelves actually started three metres above the ground, where a narrow wooden gallery ran around the walls, allowing access to the books. On the walls below the gallery was a mirror, a wardrobe, an empty portrait frame and a small separate room that Harry guessed was the bath room.

He let himself fall back into the comfortable mattress. The room was perfect. And it was his alone. Ah, the perks of being sorted into Slytherin House…Not that he did not have his own space before, but it still had been connected to the rest of the cathedral, compromising his privacy.

A cough from the wall made him jump. Salazar had entered his portrait and was now looking at him disapprovingly.

“What?” asked Harry “It’s only six am. Classes won’t start until 9 and Professor Snape’s speech will be at 7:30, probably even later than that.”

“That is by no means an excuse to lay around in bed. Get dressed, go through you daily exercises and wake up Blaise. I want you to be more than on time, I want you to be early!”

Harry groaned.

Salazar raised an unbelieving eyebrow. “Did you honestly expect me to stop your training just because you are not in my direct vicinity anymore?”

“How are you even awake? You normally hex anyone daring to go near you before 10 am.”

“Godric dragged me into training since you aren’t here anymore.”

“And how is this my fault? Why don’t you use the situation to your own advantage? Like I don’t know, waiting until he is sweaty enough to shed certain pieces of clothing, i.e. his shirt, like he is prone to do?”

“Is that what you would do?” asked Salazar in a suddenly suspicious voice.

“No, this is my advice to you. Because I have spent enough time with _Dad_ to know his morning routine and habits, _father._ If I however, come into the delight of finding my other half as well, I would probably try to get them to shed their clothes. Which is why I provided you with simple advice on how to get to your goal.”

Salazar looked stumped. Then groaned. “Sorry. I am still kind of tired, so my brain is not exactly working right now.”

“Trust me, I know. I have seen you getting jealous of your own reflection when you saw it cheching out Dad’s backside.”

Salazar groaned again. With a last reminder for Harry to get dressed, he vanished from the portrait.

Humming Harry continued his morning ritual. He did his morning exercises – both physical and magical – showered, brushed his teeth, fixed his robes and lastly packed his school books into his bag. Then he settled in the common room, on the couch before the fire place, right beneath Salazar’s empty portrait.

Opening a book about the basics of Dark Runes – Salazar had forbidden him to start learning Runes before Hogwarts – Harry began to read, letting his quill take notes he dictated mentally.

Daphne, impeccably dressed and styled as always, joined him at quarter to seven. The rest of the students filtered in around that time as well. Blaise stumbled in around quarter past seven, looking like he just rolled out of bed, his expression eerily similar to a tired koala.

Malfoy was one of the last to join, probably because he had stood for hours in front of the mirror trying to decide what to wear. After him trailed his two half-troll body guards and Pansy Parkinson. Daphne sniffed in barely concealed disgust. When Harry looked at her, she only commented “Heiress Parkinson has managed to embarrass herself in the Girl’s Dorms last night, by demanding that we all vow loyalty to her, since she was the future Lady Malfoy. When I remarked that she had nothing on me, since of my alliance with you, she started screeching inane chatter. Honestly I do not know how this…person got into Slytherin.”

“Maybe her ambition makes up for her lack of other Slytherin qualities.”

“Since when does “gold-digging whore” equal ambition?” hissed Daphne.

“First of all don’t hiss at me! I think last night proved that my vocal chords are more skilled for such sibilant sounds than yours, so please leave the hissing to the professionals-”

At that point Professor Snape entered, which made Harry close his mouth. Daphne gave him her “Don’t think I forgot about last night” glare, which was normally reserved for Blaise on mornings after he tried to sneak into her bedroom.

As the Professor was now present, Harry poked Blaise, hoping that his friend would wake up. But to no avail, a tired incubus was apparently a heat-seeking incubus and Harry’s struggle only caused Blaise’s already vice like grip to tighten. The Wind Contractor withheld a groan. Time to do the only thing that would wake Blaise up effectively for the rest of the day…

Ice cold winds blew under Blaise’s clothes, abruptly pulling the incubus from his slumber state. Blaise screeched. Harry’s eyes glowed just a bit brighter, showing everyone who was watching what he was.

_“Guns & Roses” by Paradise Lunch (from “Baccano”)_

Severus Snape saw the Zabini heir jump at least a two feet into the air. Raising one questioning eyebrow at the incubus he continued his way to the door of the Slytherin dorms, from there he knew he could see practically everyone and everyone could see him.

“For the returning students: I hope you had a good summer. For the new members of our house, there are a few things you should know. We are the most hated house in Hogwarts, mainly because of the Dark Lord. However that bad reputation would not have taken hold so well, had Lord Voldemort” at that name the whole house flinched. Snape groaned.

“For magic’s sake, it’s just a name. And not a particularly impressive one. Someone who has a pathological fear of death calling himself “Flight from Death” is just beyond stupid. Many of your parents and grandparents have joined him, because he had the right goals. But he lost these goals along the way, so there really is no need to mourn him. He claimed to be a Slytherin not only by house but by blood as well, however he still chose the direct approach instead of slowly taking over. He trusted the words of a more than questionable seer when he attacked the Potters, he had split his soul into several parts, making him beyond insane. So please pull yourselves together! If you have to pine after a proven psychopath, at least use his stupid name!” hissed Salazar Slytherin who had entered his portrait.

“Not only that, but see what this prestigious house has become! If anyone of you had bothered to look it up, you would know that there is so much more to us than cunning and ambition. We – like all other houses – have several traits that define us. Our goal is to find the balance between these characteristics. We are ambitious, that’s true.

But we are also charming and subtle about it.

We respect those with wit and intellect and strive to be eloquent and intelligent as well.

We are political thinkers.

We are strategists.

We are cunning.

We are careful.

We are ruthless.

We are polite.

We are Slytherins.

You are Slytherins.

And I expect you to act like it!”

The Founder cleared his throat. “Excuse me, Professor Snape. I just felt that there were some things that needed to be said.”

Snape wanted to nod and end his speech. The legendary wizard had made the point he had tried to make ages ago! But one of the upper years – Montague if he was not mistaken – interrupted.

“But the Dark Lord is the Heir of Slytherin.” Severus - and many of the mentally faster students – face palmed. When the potions master dared to look up again, he saw the completely shocked (was it shock?) expression of Salazar Slytherin.

The Slytherin Founder looked at Montague like someone looked at a person who was completely resistant to facts. He opened his mouth. Hadrian Emrys-LeFay (who somehow was the Founder’s son, a mystery Severus hoped to clean up soon) raised his hand.

“Before you say anything father, please be aware, that you are forbidden to use even the slightest of curse words in my presence.”

“As if that would stop you from being lippy. And what would that do to stop me anyways?”

“I’ll tell Dad.”

“No you wouldn’t!”

“Oh, but I would.”

“Fine, then let me make this easy for all of us: I, Salazar Slytherin, state that I am of sane mind and free will. I hereby declare that the person who has assumed the name “Lord Voldemort” is no longer part of my line. He has no claim on anything that belongs to the Slytherin family. As such, Hadrian Emrys-LeFay is the only Heir of Slytherin.” Turning on his heels the Founder sauntered out of the portrait, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like “I should have done that years ago!”

Snape coughed into his hand to gather the attention of his stunned students. Heads slowly turned to him. “Now, the rules of our public behaviour are as few as they are simple.

  1. Don’t openly disagree with another Slytherin, keep internal conflict within the dorms.
  2. If you want to get revenge on another house do so without getting caught.
  3. Do not wander off alone if you are below fourth year. And even if you are a fourth year, try to travel in groups.
  4. Avoid other teachers’ attentions. The other house teachers will not judge you for being Slytherin, however they will favour their own house. The only teachers you can trust to act not prejudiced or unfair towards you are myself and Minerva McGonagall.”



Without any further ado he sent his students to breakfast. Somehow this would be a year of changes, he could feel it in his bones. Whether these changes were for better or worse, he looked forward to them. It had been some time since teaching had been this interesting. But with his illustrious godson, one of the last remaining incubi, the new Heiress of Ravenclaw and of course the enigmatic Hadrian Zephyrus Potter, turned Hadrian Zephyrus Emrys-LeFay, there was no way things would get boring…

The first week seemed to stretch like chewing gum. Not that it was monotone. It was just that a lot of things happened at once.

For one, all teachers practically waxed poetry about Hermione Granger’s skill in class. When the Ravenclaws’ first potions lesson of the term started, Severus made sure to test the girl’s knowledge. He was not disappointed. The young witch’s answers were correct and provided some background knowledge as well. She was also following his instructions, which was always something he looked for in a student. Ms Granger also remained polite when pureblood bigots made snide comments about a muggleborn being Heiress of Ravenclaw and she graciously helped when others asked for her assistance, no differentiating between the houses.

What startled the potioneer was the fact that she was close friends with Theodore Nott, whose father was a known blood racist, the notorious Weasley twins, Hufflepuff Seeker Cedric Diggory and of course the three Slytherin first years that still confused the hell out of Snape.

He remembered an instance during lunch break when the merry octet had dragged their not so merry leader (because there was no other way to describe Hadrian Emrys-LeFay) out to the Black Lake to eat.

Of course the teachers also gushed (yes they gushed, excessively so) about how charming and well-mannered Hadrian was. And how talented. And how witty. And eloquent. And diplomatic. And polite. And how Slytherin in the best way. And how much he resembled his fathers. Snape had yet to meet Lord Richard and Lord Solomon LeFay and Hadrian had not been in his class yet. He also did not know how Salazar Slytherin and (since they mentioned his first name) Godric Gryffindor fit into the picture, so his spy instincts told him to remain wary.

That did not stop him from looking forward to the potions lesson on Friday. No, what stopped him from anticipating the lesson was none other than Daniel Potter. Of course, most teachers fawned over the celebrity brat more than the (secret) Heir of Slytherin. They overlooked the brat’s attitude problems completely. They ignored the “Boy-Who-Lived’s” less than satisfactory results. What aggravated Snape the most, was the fact that Daniel Potter was no weak magician. He was disgustingly light, sure that was a given. But if he would actually listen in class he could be one of the top students. But no, the other professor’s did not care, they simply were “honoured” to teach the “Saviour of the Wizarding World” of course that attitude was extended to the “Saviour’s cute little friends”.

When Pomona Sprout told him about her lesson with Daniel for the second time in an hour, he had almost thrown all of his respect for her work and character out of the window and strangled her. But luckily, he had a companion in his misery. A companion that had always surprised him. She was the one who had tried to keep the pranks of the self-named “Marauders” in bounds.

Minerva McGonagall. At some point during his first year, he had been convinced that she was actually some sort of higher being sent by Lady Magic herself to restore justice on earth. Of course he had let such childish fantasies long behind him. But that did not lessen the respect and to some degree admiration he held for the strong headed woman.

He was most surprised when he heard her cackle manically after the headmaster had stormed out of the staff room, complaining about the lack of power from Daniel Potter. When he asked her about it, she merely smirked and stated: “Finally he reaps what he sowed when he sent Harry away to Petunia Dursley of all people.”

“What? What do you mean muggles?”

McGonagall gave another chuckle: “Since Albus had “no need” for any boy who wasn’t the “Saviour” he just sent Harry as far away as possible. Well, Harry Potter truly is far gone. In his place is Hadrian Zephyrus Emrys-LeFay. Dumbledore could not have screwed up more if he tried. Don’t you think?”

 

_“I don’t expect many of you to appreciate the subtle art that is potion-making._

_However those select few who possess the predisposition…_

_I can how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper on death.”_

_Severus Snape_

Snape grinned. It had taken him some years to figure out just how to catch a class’ attention when their first stepped into the potions class room. But now that he had found the words and how to deliver them…Let’s just say that speech was effective on everyone.

Except Potter of course (there was only one Potter in his class, the ex-Potter had already proven to him that he was about as “Potter” as Severus himself). So he did something that – in hindsight – he would deem extremely childish:

“Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” Yes, yes, yes, we already established that asking a first year about a sixth year potion was immature, so stop giving him the disapproving stares. The brat deserved it anyways, so sue him.

“I don’t know, sir.” Potter grit his teeth.

Snape put on a sneer (come on, if he wanted to make the brat feel really dumb, a sneer was the least he had to do. Now stop the disapproving glares!) “Tut, tut – fame clearly isn’t everything.” (Okay, maybe that particular comment did not have to be in there)

“Let’s try again. Potter, where would I look if I told you to find a bezoar?” (That was a completely legit question. A question that could save his life some day in the future! - Ahhh, who was he even kidding?)

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Well then, I give you one last chance, Potter, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

“I don’t know, sir. Why don’t you ask some of your oh, so perfect Slytherins? Or my squib brother?” Okay, maybe he should have started on first year level (STOP YOUR AIR OF DISAPPROVAL! How was he supposed to know that the brat did not even open his books before school started?). Snape raised one unimpressed eyebrow. Inside he was burning with rage. How dare that little brat insult his (HIS!) students?

“Well, then as you have no brother, Mr Potter, I do not see any need to even consider following your childish demands. Also ten points from Gryffindor for even making them.” (Yes, he was a hypocrite, but nobody needed to know that.)

“Oh, please, just because he calls himself by another name, now it’s obvious he is still just my younger twin.”

“Another ten points from Gryffindor. Now stop you inane nonsense, Mr Potter, before it becomes more!”

“Pah, you are just scared that you slimy snakes don’t know the answers either.”

Snape was about to retort with even more deducted points when Hadrian interrupted. “Sir, if it is of no bother, I would be more than happy to try and answer your questions, if you would be willing to repeat them. As Heir Potter seems to have fallen for the belief that I am his brother and seems to be insisting on holding up the lesson, I do not see any harm in answering your basic questions to help the more…feline inclined half of the class.”

Internally Severus Snape decided that this was the moment where he could just thank his lucky stars for Hadrian Emrys-LeFay’s polite and sarcastic disposition and go along with it. So he monotonously asked his questions again.

For a short moment the Wind Contractor (because there was no other way he could have given that display in the common room on Monday otherwise) seemed to be thinking, then he answered:

“If you add asphodel to a wormwood infusion you get a strong sleeping potion, known as “Draught of the Living Death”. A bezoar is most likely to be found in any ingredient cupboard or magical first aid-kit, as it neutralizes most poisons. It originally comes out of a goat’s stomach. Monkshood and wolfsbane are one and the same plant, also known as aconite. It is one of the most basic defences against werewolves. …But I have a question that has been bothering me for quite a while: What would I get if I added in silver nitrate pickled sphinx claws to an extract of pink carnations and spider lilies?”

Oh, shit, leave it to the lost twin to figure out his riddle…Calm down Snape, he has given you the opportunity to take this into a more private frame. “That is an interesting question. Please stay after class so that we can discuss this…Now then, let’s begin the main part of the lesson.” With a flick of his wand, instructions where written on the black board.

The next hour was filled with inexperienced students trying to live up to his high expectations. Almost everyone – including his godson much to his dismay – failed. The group belonging to what Snape had dubbed “The Merry Octet” (this was a temporary name, until he found something more fitting) handed in perfect potions, like their two Ravenclaw companions before them.

Soon, too soon, the lesson was over and Snape waited for the class to clear out, whilst trying to avoid glowing azure eyes. When the door fell shut, there was a constant minute of absolute silence. He tried to look around his class room, feeling suddenly very uncomfortable in his skin. A calming breeze came out of nowhere. On instinct he turned to the contractor.

And could not look away. It was true what legend said. The eyes of a Wind Contractor were as endless as the skies and often held wisdom far beyond their years. Of course there had never been another Wind Contractor after Merlin but the few generations of his descendants carried the Stigma of the Wind. And now, over a thousand years later a child of mere eleven years held his gaze, looking sad, hopeful and compassionate all at once. So much emotion was displayed in that one gaze, leaving him wondering how he got into Slytherin. Such compassion fit more into Hufflepuff or Gryffindor.

“Your first question actually meant that you “bitterly regret Lily’s death”. However my mother is not dead.”

“Yes, I know, but your answer was a bit confusing.”

“Silver nitrate is used in the muggle world to create mirrors. Spider lilies mean “to never see someone again” in the Japanese flower language and are usually used as funeral flowers. Pink carnations are supposed to have been created when Mary cried over Jesus’ corpse, so they symbolize a mother’s undying love. And sphinxes are supposed to protect something.”

So I was trying to tell you, that my mother is not dead, but you will never see her again, because all that she was, was sealed away with the mirror curse by none other than Albus Dumbledore. She is as good as dead, because she was trying to protect me.”

Something wet slid down Snape’s cheek. Looking down, through his unclear sight, he saw small drops of water falling down. Tears. He had not cried for years.

“My father was also victim of Dumbledore. Apparently our illustrious headmaster replaced his grown-up self with a memory-self that depicted his bully days. He used your memories… My mother also left me a letter. She said that you were one of the few people I could trust.”

More tears fell. The boy silently stood up. Soft warm gusts of air filled the room with the scent of Lilies.

“I just thought you ought to know.”

A door fell shut. Severus was alone. The small winds stayed.

He hid his teary face in his hands. A single sob echoed through the room.

It took him a long while to get his bearings again. When he did however, he was no longer the lifeless teacher. He was a man with a mission. And the mission was: Protect Hadrian and his friends…and fuck with Daniel Potter as much as possible (because being childish is completely legit if your opponent is even more immature).

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incubi/Succubi were first mentioned in Sumerian folk lore. So I decided that they probably originated from that area, meaning that they are used to cold temperatures. That is why Blaise is so weak against cold temperatures. Though he has nothing against cooling down (i.e. eating ice cream, taking a dip into a lake/ocean in summer, a cold shower etc.). It just has to happen on his terms.


	8. “Beyond the Clouds” by Audiomachine (from "How to train your Dragon 2")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer. Harry Potter does not belong to me. *Goes to cry in a corner*  
> Comments, pairing ideas and requests for one-shots are always more than welcome

The first month passed by without much more incidents. Sure, the group around Daniel Potter – which was mainly made up of the lower years of Gryffindor house – were generally unpleasant, but that was a given. Snape had recovered from his emotional break-down on the first Friday and Hermione’s position in Ravenclaw house was secured when her fellow Ravens heard of her extraordinary accomplishments in class. The Slytherins still regarded Harry with wariness and most of them still tried to figure out who his parents were (they had dismissed the Potters as candidates when they had heard how the family abandoned Harry).

Harry of course found the whole debate hilarious, for one because the truth was so unbelievable that no one would figure it out anytime soon. On the other hand, he did not mind sharing the story with his house mates. They just did not bother to ask.

It was on a normal Monday in early October when the notice board in the common room informed the Slytherin first years that flying lessons would start soon. And that they would share their lessons with the lions.

This started a contest of bragging between the houses. Many first years would brag about outrageous stunts they could do on a broom, only to tell an even more extreme version of the story five minutes later. In the middle of it were Daphne, Theo, Hermione, Blaise and Harry, who all just wished the flying lessons to be over.

Daphne because she deemed brooms a not suitable way of travel for a lady. Theo argued that brooms meant Quidditch and Quidditch meant safety risks, something he would rather avoid. Blaise said that being an incubus he would soon grow wings anyway, so why bother with learning how to fly a broom? Harry thought similarly. He would rather learn how to really fly on his winds – not just hover – but his ever so overprotective guardian (only Salazar, Godric had been all for it) forbid him from using them ever again. Though that may have something to do with Harry jumping off a cliff back home, so that he could start his flight easier. It had worked but it had also given Salazar a figurative heart attack.

Hermione mainly was apprehensive because she was afraid of heights. Daphne had tried to console her by stating that there was no shame in not being able to fly a broom. Theo said it was her very right to decide that she would stay on the ground. Blaise had not commented.

It was Harry who offered a solution: In the next three days until Thursday he would brush up on his free-flying skills and would take Hermione flying with him. It would cure her fear of heights and that way she might be able to even enjoy the flying lessons.

_“Fear – it stands for Fuck Everything And Run”_

_Unknown source_

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.” Hermione had her eyes sealed shut, clawing her fingers into Harry’s forearms.

“Hermione.”

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Ohmygod. Ohmygod.” She opened her eyes just a bit, glimpsing at the ground. “OH MY GOD!”

“Hermione. Don’t look down.” Said Harry gently.

“That’s what I am doing. I am not looking down. I am not looking anywhere.”

“You were the one who insisted on flying higher than any tower in Hogwarts.” It was true, beneath them shone the tiled roofs of the castle in the rising morning sun.

“Yes. I did. But” she peered down again. “OH MY GOD!”

“Don’t look down!” said Harry again. “Look at me. Only at me.”

Lilac eyes met azure. Harry could feel his friend’s grip lighten. Slowly he let his hands slip into hers, now holding hands they stood in the air. Carefully he stretched out his arms, letting her stand on her own. It took a lot of concentration, but thanks to Godric’s combat training he was able to concentrate on many things at once. Right now it was keeping eye contact with Hermione, not letting go of her hands while holding her in the air.

“See. I’ve got you.” She nodded.

“Then try looking down again.” He held her hands just a bit tighter when she leaned forward to look down between them.

“There, that’s not so bad, is it?”

“It isn’t.” Hermione looked around them. Her face filled with wonder, as she saw the sun rising above Hogwarts. “It’s beautiful.”

Harry grinned. Seemed like his friend was ready just in time for the flying lessons. Pulling her close again, he let the air gently carry them to the ground again. As they slowly sank down, the towers and walls of the school started to surround them, a century old protection against anything evil.

“We still have time before breakfast” commented Hermione as her feet touched the tiles of the inner courtyard. Harry’s gaze went to the clouds again, they glowed golden in the morning light, a stark contrast against the slowly lightening sky.

“Go.” was all Hermione said. He turned to her apologetically: “Am I that obvious?”

“No only your friends and family would know. You get that distant look in your eyes when you think about flying. It’s like you expect the wind to just take you with it. Kind of weird, if one doesn’t know about you being a contractor.”

“Well, not everyone knows yet. The more adept of the first years know and the Slytherins who are clever enough. Maybe some of the Ravens as well. I don’t think any lions – not counting the twins – know either. And the Puffs probably don’t exactly care.”

Hermione hummed. “Well, if you want to go flying, you should hurry. Breakfast starts in around two hours.”

“Hermione, I could go back home, say hi to my parents and come back here in that amount of time.”

“Show off.” Harry grinned. Then he perked up. He fished the familiar black egg from his out of his robe. Handing it to her he said: “Could you take care of it? I don’t want to risk it breaking.”

Hermione cradled the egg in her hands: “Shouldn’t it have hatched by now?”

““It will hatch when it is ready” that’s what Salazar said. So I guess we’ll just have to wait.”

Hermione hummed again. For a short moment Harry was hovering, with her standing on the ground, holding on of his hands. It must have looked like a scene from a Peter Pan movie. Then she pushed him into the air. Giving a mock salute, Harry took off.

Flying. Flying is hard to describe to someone who has not flown yet. And it is a different feeling for everyone. For Harry flying meant freedom. It meant to leave his worries and shackles behind, the unpleasant memories, the ominous feelings about the future. He just let it go and let himself BE.

Riding the winds, seeing the scenery zip past you, rising above the clouds, letting himself fall only to grab a hold of the saving winds just a few feet away from the ground, then shooting back into the skies while turning wildly around his own axis, slowly sinking back down again in a mile wide spiral or simply letting the different air currents carry him.

When Harry’s feet touched the ground shortly before breakfast started, he felt as if part of him had become wind. But he did not feel incomplete. Rather, he felt weightless, refreshed and completely alive. Hermione greeted him, Theo must have joined her when Harry had been away, as they both sat on the only sunny bench in the courtyard, books on their laps.

_“99 problems but a snitch ain’t one”_

_Unknown source_

Harry, Daphne and Blaise stood a little off from the rest of the flying class. Madam Hooch approached. The Gryffindors were still chattering and gossiping and doing everything Godric hoped they would never do (Harry would know, since Godric had ranted about it often enough when he got letters from home).

With a sharp whistle, Madam Hooch finally gathered the attention of her students, sharply she told them to all stand next to a broom. Harry just chose the next best one, he knew from the twins and Cedric that the school brooms where all equally awful.

“Great, now that everyone has stopped blabbering” she shot Lavender, Parvati and Pansy a nasty glare “We can begin with the lesson. Step one, stand next to your broom, stretch out your arm and say “Up””

Feeling extremely stupid, Harry did as he was told. Surprisingly the broom shot up, right into his hand. Blaise and Daphne, whom he stood between, gaped at him. Surveying his classmates showed that only three people had managed to get it right on the first try. He and unfortunately Malfoy and Potter.

It took some time but at some point everyone had managed to their brooms up into their hands more or less unscathed. Crabbe and Goyle had broken their brooms when they first grabbed them, earning them a detention with Snape and a suspension from all further flying lessons. Ronald Weasley’s broom had missed his hand and broke his nose. Madam Hooch had sent him to Hospital wing, accompanied by Brown. Daphne’s robe had been torn by one of the wayward twigs of the broom, making the Greengrass Heiress blow a casket and refusing to step anywhere near that “hellish device”. Harry knew that his friend was only acting – because Daphne was one of the persons who dressed well but did not care if their clothes got ruined as long it got the job done – since he knew Daphne was a very ruthless person but she would only ride a broom willingly when under a death threat.

“Okay, mount your brooms, I will check your grips.”

Harry did as he was told, mirrored by a grumbling Blaise. Daphne was laughing at the incubus from the side lines. Daniel Potter bragged about his perfect flying style, patronizingly telling his peers how to hold their brooms. Malfoy did the same, though he did not offer any help. Madam Hooch told Malfoy that his flying style was not only unsafe when diving, but that it could lead to serious cramps. Unfortunately she did not tell Daniel the same.

“Great, now that everyone has the right hold on their brooms, you will push off, hover a bit and then come back down again, on the count of-”

Before she could finish, Neville Longbottom, nervous as he was, had pushed off and was rising higher and higher at an alarming rate. Madam Hooch commanded the boy to come down several times. Soon enough Neville fell. It all happened so fast that Harry could only cushion the boy’s fall. Still, Neville broke his ankle, which caused Madam Hooch to carry him to the Infirmary herself. Just before she left the warned everyone that going near their brooms would get them expelled.

Sniggering Malfoy picked up something in the grass. Harry saw it was a Rememberall, the same that Malfoy had caused a scene over at breakfast. Harry decided that he should just summon the artefact with this winds before Malfoy caused a scene. Then he saw the shining Heir Ring on Malfoy’s hand.

“Quick, just summon it over here.” Hissed Blaise into his ear, apparently having had the same thought.

“Not possible. He holds the Rememberall in the hand with his Heir Ring. The ring is warded against Contractor powers. Let’s just hope he doesn’t cause too big a scene.”

Apparently Lady Magic had decided that today was not Harry’s lucky day, because as soon as Harry had stopped speaking, Malfoy had pushed off, Daniel hot on his heels. Harry groaned. How was he related to that moron again?

He saw Potter and Malfoy bickering in the air. He gave one look at Blaise, handing him the black egg, he mounted his broom: “I know for a fact that the different magical schools are just about lined up to let me enroll, so I’ll try to get these idiots back down since getting expelled isn’t really a threat to me.”

“Use you winds?”

“Both wear Heir Rings and they are moving too fast, I cannot hold a struggling target as of yet. Even with Hermione who held still most of the time I had to completely concentrate. No, getting up there myself is the most likely successful option.”

“Well, good luck then.”

Harry pushed off. Surprisingly flying on a broom was not _that_ different from flying by himself. Getting the hang of it easily, he flew towards the brawling duo. Before he could reach them however, Malfoy had already thrown the Rememberall.

Daniel dived after it. Harry could see how his grip loosened. A pulled into an almost vertical dive, snatching his brother’s neck, before letting the winds carry him to the ground, luckily Daniel was not moving a muscle from shock. Harry dived even steeper.

15 feet.

He was now near enough to stretch out his hand for the Rememberall.

10 feet.

He could feel the artefact’s magical aura at the tips of his fingers.

9 feet.

He could almost grasp it.

8 feet.

His fingertips brushed over the smooth glass surface.

7 feet.

The object was in his fingers.

6 feet.

Against his palm.

5 feet.

The magical aura of the tiny orb pulsing against his hand.

4 feet.

He secured his grip.

3 feet.

He pulled out of his dive.

2 feet.

He felt the tips of his shoes brushing the ground when his broom was finally horizontal again.

“HARRY POTTER!” an enraged Dumbledore was stomping over the field towards him.

Harry raised one cold eyebrow. “Actually it’s Hadrian Zephyrus Emrys-LeFay. I shed the name “Potter” and “Harry” is a nickname only for close friends and family. Two categories you do not fit into, Headmaster.”

“I WILL HAVE YOU EXPELLED!”

“If you want to expel me, you will also have to expel Heir Malfoy and Heir Potter, as both were the ones who started it. Otherwise you will be accused of favouritism and removed from you position. You will be accused of insulting the Heir to five of the seven Imperial Houses anyway. And that will not only remove you from your position as Headmaster but also from any posts you hold within the Wizengamot and the IWC.”

“Nonsense! Don’t tell any lies, my boy.” Blue eyes twinkled, but there was a certain flicker to it.

“I have no need to tell lies. You would know anyway, since you are using surface Legilimency on your students, another delict which would get you removed from this position.” Commented Harry nonchalantly.

With a huff Dumbledore collected Malfoy and Potter, storming off.

_“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”_

Dinner was interrupted with a scream of excitement from the Gryffindor table. Whispers broke out in the Great Hall. Apparently Daniel Potter had been made Seeker of the Gryffindor Team. Harry and Blaise had to physically restrain from strangling the smug looking celebrity. Giving a wave to their friends, the two Slytherin boys dragged the Greengrass Heiress out into the Entrance Hall.

Soon enough, the twins, Cedric, Hermione and Theo joined them. Daphne was vivid. “That little wanker!” hissed the ash blonde girl, grass green eyes burning with rage. “You deserve being made Seeker far more. You are definitely the better flyer. How do the other teachers condone this? Potter is a danger to both himself and others in the air. Almost slipping from his broom mid-dive ought to be proof enough!”

“Actually, I agree with her. Hey, mother was so kind as to tell me a memory sharing charm. It allows several people access to a memory without extracting it into a pensieve.”

A few minutes later, Cedric sank onto the steps of the staircase. “I don’t know whether I should be enraged because such talent is wasted or be relieved because now I don’t have to play against you.”

At the confused expressions of the first years, the twins chorused: “Ced is Seeker for the Hufflepuff team. But he is right. This is a lot of wasted talent.”

“Who says it’s wasted?”

Everyone whirled around to the stairs. There stood Professors McGonagall and Snape.

“When Albus insisted on making Daniel the Gryffindor Seeker I had to agree, since I did not have a replacement for the recently graduated Charlie Weasley. But when he wanted to make an exception for Daniel about the “No Brooms for 1st years” rule, I said that he would have to let other first years be tried for the Seeker position as well. Since the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw do not need new seekers, the only house left is Slytherin.” Explained McGonagall.

Snape continued. “As the current Slytherin Seeker would rather focus on his NEWTs right now, you are eligible for the position. You already have the approval of the upper years since they saw you pull that stunt from their class room windows. By the way Marcus Flint, the team captain, is more than elated to have you on the team. He expects you on the Quidditch Pitch at five pm on Sunday. Do try to get a broom before that.” With that the two Professors left for dinner. Harry grinned. He knew the Slytherins would be discreet about it and so would his friends. Hopefully he would be able to see Daniel’s face when he got called up for the first game.

The rest of the group wandered down to the dungeons, towards the Slytherin common room, where the three snakes bid the rest a good night.

They were greeted by an onslaught of congratulations. Apparently the upper years had shared the memory of the first flight lesson. Now the Slytherins could even get near Harry fast enough. Sure, being the Heir of Slytherin had secured his position in the hierarchy. But now, having shown that there was more to him than just a fancy name (a wind contractor, an academic genius, a great flyer and someone who could get Dumbledore to leave him alone by simply talking to him), his leading position was secured and all he would have to do now was grow into the role.

That being said, there still was one problem: Malfoy. By the looks of it the blonde had challenged Potter to a Midnight Duel in the Trophy Room. Not that he was planning to go. No, the Malfoy Heir thought himself rather cunning to have led Potter into that obvious of a scheme. Not that Harry had any doubt that it would work. But this scheme was extremely crude. Crude enough for him to hijack.

He excused himself in a polite manner and dragged his two friends out of the common room. Running up the staircases they quickly caught up with the rest of their group. Asking them to be patient, Harry led them to Professor Snape’s office.

Throwing up a privacy charm, Harry turned to the group: “Okay, this is the plan, the four greatest nuisances will be in the Trophy Room at Midnight. But to ensure that I need the twins to set up some dung bombs in the Trophy Room under Malfoy’s name. Blaise, I need you to sneak into the ferret’s room and leave a message about it. Make it seem like it was Potter’s handiwork, that’ll hopefully throw him off of our trail. I will go into the office and tell Snape about “official version” leaving us out of the story. That way we will also have him out of commission. We will meet in the Entrance hall 15 minutes before curfew. That is in around two hours. Is that alright with everybody?”

“Sure, but why do you need us to do that?” chorused the twins.

“Because there is something on the third floor, something I am very interested in. There was a break-in at Gringotts on July 31st, fortunately the fault had been emptied not an hour before the break-in. I know from Ragnok that it was Rubeus Hagrid under orders from Dumbledore who removed the single artefact inside the vault. He could not tell me anything more, because he has to keep discretion about the bank’s customers and he was already blurring the lines telling me that. But back to the point: I am certain that this artefact from Gringotts is in Hogwarts hidden on the third floor and that whoever was planning to steal it is still after it. And I want to know what it is and why it is worth stealing.”

Cedric whistled. “Sounds tough. Sounds dangerous. Sounds reckless…. Count me in.” His answer was followed by hums of agreement. Harry grinned: “Well, see you in two hours then.”

_“Benny Hill Theme”/ “Yakety Sax” by Boots Randolph_

“Oh my God!”

“Shh. You’ll wake it up.”

“Somebody is standing on my foot!”

“Shhhhhh”

“Guys, this thing is standing on some sort of trap door.”

“I thought so. Maybe we should come back some other day…”

“Now they are standing on my other foot.”

“Shhhhhhh”

“I think we…”

“…should have brought…”

“…the Marauder’s Map.”

“Are you telling me that you’ve had a map that keeps track of everyone at Hogwarts and you forgot to bring it? Knowing that we planned to sneak out?”

“Shhhhhhhh”

“Ah…yes…how do you know anyway?”

“His de facto father is one of the original Marauders.”

“Sirius Black? Who are the others?”

“Sirius is Padfoot. Remus Lupin is Moony. James Potter was Prongs and Peter Pettigrew was Wormtail.”

“Guys, this is all heart-warming and all but could we please focus on the fact that there is a Cerberus lying at our feet? A slowly waking Cerberus?”

“Shhhhh.”

“Wait what did you say?”

A loud, triple bark sounded through the deserted corridors.

Harry was running at the speed of Wind, behind him Blaise and Hermione. Cedric was carrying Daphne who was not used to running for her life, while on of the twins (in his panic-hazed mind Harry could not see which) carried Theo, whose abusive father had once broken his legs, rendering Theo unable to run great distances.

The empty hallways caused the dog to seem that much louder, making the group think it was still right behind them. They just ran as fast and far as they could. As luck would have it, once they reached to lower levels of the school, they just ran into the next open door.

Which happened to be Professor Snape’s office.

Who happened to sit at his desk, grading papers.

The teens stared at their Professor. Their Professor stared back.

Harry closed the door behind them.

Snape seemed to wake up from his shock. “What are you…”

“Before you say anything more or do anything rash, I have a proposition for you. An agreement which will give us mutual benefits. You give each of us a hall pass and in exchange I will give you the information about my parentage you and the rest of Slytherin House have been so desperately searching for. However I will split the facts into eight parts. One piece of knowledge, of power, against one hall pass, how does that sound to you?”

Snape gave a pensive look. “I could just get you all expelled, right on the spot!”

“Yes, but think, we as a group are incredibly useful, don’t you think? We were the ones who told you about the Trophy Room affair. And even as individual we are useful. Hermione and Theo ease your lessons. The twins break up the dull daily life. Cedric is one of the few prefects who treat Slytherin fairly. Blaise and Daphne are promising students. And if you expel me, well… do you want the House Cup to go to Gryffindor this year that badly, Professor?”

“Fine, I must admit, you are good at playing The Game, Emrys-LeFay.”

“I learned from the best.”

“Good.” Snape pulled out a hall pass handing it to Cedric.

“There was a prophecy made by Lady Fate herself on the deathbeds of the two male Founders, almost a thousand years ago.”

Snape handed passes to the twins, already guessing that Harry would have split the Prophecy in two other wise.

“It said that “An heir of blood to both Gryffindor and Slytherin was found worthy of inheriting the lines, and if that heir was in great danger, Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor would return from the grave into the realm of the living.””

Theo and Hermione got their passes.

“I am that Heir. My abusive muggle relations put me in great danger by abusing me. Being accepted as a Wind Contractor caused a ripple great enough to finally grant my ancestors the long overdue access to the Living World.”

Daphne.

“Godric is the Heir to the Emrys line. Salazar the LeFay Lord.”

Theo.

“As the Potters disowned me, I could get legally blood adopted.”

His pass.

“So now I am the Heir and son of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin, who go by the names of Richard Emrys and Solomon LeFay.”

Snape stared. Harry grinned, turning to leave. When he was almost through the door he turned back one last time: “You know Professor, if you wanted to know that bad, all you would have needed to do was ask…Goodnight Professor.”

 

TBC


	9. “Mamoru’s Theme” by Yasuharu Takanashi (from “Sailor Moon Crystal”)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References to Teen Wolf, the first three to spot it get a one-shot (it should be easy, really, since it was me (who only has seen a few episodes with a friend/fan of the show) who put it into the chapter)
> 
> To understand the Halloween part of the chapter better it might be useful to look up the layout of the bathroom here: http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/6/60/Myrtle's.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100624182000 
> 
> Also, I am not sure about other writers but my tags tend to constantly change, so reading them every two weeks or so (that equals roughly six updates) is kind of useful.
> 
> And comments. I wish for comments. Please give me comments. Or pairing ideas. Or feedback on my music choices. Anything. It would make me really happy.

It was Halloween. The whole school had been bustling with excitement for the whole week, because ever since Daniel Potter had supposedly vanquished the Dark Lord the holiday had been one of the main festivals in the Wizarding World. Hadrian and Blaise had wondered whether or not it would be useful to celebrate Samhain. They had arrived at the conclusion that the main point of Samhain was to get into contact with deceased family members. As neither of them had anyone in the afterlife whom they needed to talk to, it was kind of useless to waste their time on it, especially since none of the other Slytherins celebrated it. After all, adult supervision was needed to perform the ritual and Professor Snape would be obliged to stay at the Feast. In the end there simply were no reasons to celebrate.

It was charms class right now, the only class all four houses had together in first year. Today was the day they were finally allowed to use the levitation charm. Sure, they had mastered it before but now was their chance to shine and earn house points. Especially for the Slytherins, the amount of house points you got could give you a higher standing inside your year.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” chanted Hermione, her feather rising up, elegantly moving to the movements of her wand.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” said Blaise, poking at the feather. It rose like Hermione’s, telling of Blaise’s talent at Charms.

Around the room many feather were starting to hover and float. Harry had let his feather hover, earned his share of points and then used his winds to make people sneeze by tickling them with the feather. Since it was such a small object he did not even have to look at it to keep it in the air. So there were many students sneezing around the room, wondering where the rogue feather had come from.

Next to him Daphne, who was great at Transfiguration but did not seem to get the hang of charms, was struggling with her feather. Hermione, who sat to Daphne’s other side, calmly told her: “Try to smoothen out the movement a bit. If you poke at it like that, you could set it on fire.”

“But why does it work when Blaise does it?”

Harry rolled his eyes: “Blaise is a show off. If you look closer at his movement you’ll see that he does do the typical swish-and-flick motion. He’s just moving very fast.”

At that exact moment the feather of Seamus Finnigan, who had seen Blaise’s movement, copied it and had promptly lit his feather on fire. Hermione groaned: “That is what I meant…”

Daphne gave a dejected sigh and tried once more. In vain.

 “See, Greengrass that is what happens when you listen to a mudblood.” Sneered Malfoy.

All that could be heard was a loud: “Harry, NO!” and the sound of a breaking jaw.

_“Friendship is not who you have known the longest._

_It’s about who walked into your life, said “I’m here for you!”_

_And proved it.”_

_Unknown source_

Harry sat opposite of Professor Snape. He had his arms crossed. All that could be heard was the ticking of the clock. Both wizards looked at each other. Then Snape rested his forehead against his palm, giving a sigh.

“Am I suspended from Quidditch, sir?”

“Unless you would finally tell me why you broke Malfoy’s jaw, I do not see a way to not ban you, without being accused of favouritism. Among Slytherin students.”

“He called her a Mudblood. He called Hermione a Mudblood. A term that is so unbelievable outdated and wrong, just so wrong, wrong, wrong.” Harry felt tears of anger prickle at his eyes. He refused to cry in front of Snape, to show weakness. He had been through worse without crying. But this…this was just too much.

“Nobody calls her that without suffering the consequences. She is no Mudblood. There is no such thing as a Mudblood, as someone unworthy of Magic. Quite the opposite. Lady Magic herself choses the true Muggleborns and the Redeemed. She is the one who allows them back into our world again, who is Draco Malfoy to question her choice? And not only that, Hermione is the Heiress of Ravenclaw. He has no right to call her a Mudblood! Absolutely no right! If anyone is unworthy of Lady Magic’s gift, it is him. He should rethink his ways before accusing other people of being less than him.” Now he was crying. It was simply no use. While it did not bother him if he got hurt, knowing that someone hurt his friends just made his blood boil.

“Great, now I’m crying.” He spat out anyways. “Damn it, I’m that weak that I would cry about hitting Malfoy. Damnit, just damnit.”

Snape held out a conjured tissue box to him. “Thanks” muttered Harry, rubbing away the tears.

His teacher gave another sigh. “Under these circumstances, I do not see any reason to suspend you. You may have broken Malfoy’s jaw but there are several witnesses stating that if you had not done so either Ms Greengrass or Misters Zabini and Nott would have done far worse than breaking his jaw. There are only two questions I need to ask: One, why did you not use your wand?”

“I don’t know. It was simply instinct. I get that way sometimes. Father calls it my feral state. Mostly it’s just for a few seconds. I become like a wild animal or rather like a storm, lashing out at anything that is in my way. It mostly happens when I feel that my friends are threatened. It has something to do with becoming a Contractor so young, in a few years my feral state will probably involve a lot more of Wind and Magic.”

“That brings me to my next question, why do you react so strongly to the word: “Mudblood”?” Snape gave a shudder, showing that he himself felt by no means comfortable with the word.

“It’s mostly father. He was a true Muggleborn who had been granted the title of “Heir in Mind” to the LeFay line. When he heard that his name is nowadays associated with such a disgusting policy, both Dad and me had to physically restrain him. It still hurts him to only hear the word. It brings some bad memories for him.”

“You seem to admire your father very much.”

“Of course I do. But don’t tell him that! Because he is also the parent whom I challenge regularly, since I resemble him so much: Always playing head games until something poses a threat to our loved ones. Then we get downright vicious.”

“And your other parent?”

“Wow, you are really good at that. If the teaching career doesn’t work out, the Mind Healing department at St. Mungo’s should be more than happy to have you.”

Snape gave his typical “Just answer my question, brat” deadpan look.

“Well, if Salazar is the parent whom I am bickering with, Godric is the parent whom I am simply in awe of. I guess it is just the warmth he radiates and shares with every person he comes across. He would climb a tree to get a lost kitten and jump into a stormy sea to save his worst enemy. That is something I could never do. And a character trait that could be called reckless, but I think it’s more like compassion. He would die for his loved ones, pushed to his limit he would even kill for them. And he is simply a great parent. But a bit oblivious to other’s feelings. Seriously, Salazar could not be less subtle if he tried.”

It was at that moment Severus Snape knew…Harry Potter may have been abused but his new family was just about perfect for him. There was no need to worry about the two resurrected Founders putting unreasonable expectations on him.

_“In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg (from “Peer Gynt”)_

When Harry left Snape’s office, the Halloween Feast was about to begin so he just went straight for the Great Hall. Sitting down next to Blaise, he looked around: “Where are Daphne and Hermione?”

“In the girl’s bathroom. Hermione went there to cry. Daphne is consoling her. They both should be okay by tomorrow, though.”

Harry hummed in agreement, a habit he had copied from Hermione. Then he helped himself to some pumpkin pie. The Feast went on a bit duller than expected, since Daphne (who was a great conversationalist (Blaise was too, but he tended to get a bit occupied with eating)) was not with them and they could not join the others today.

BAMM! The sound of the double doors flying open.

“TROLL! IN THE DUNGEONS! TROLL!” Quirrell with his turban askew had run into the hall. Just before he fainted he mumbled: “Thought you ought to know.” With a thud he fell forward.

Panic. Absolute Panic. Every face in the hall was filled with dread, as the majority of the students started running around, screaming.

“SILENCE! PREFECTS, GUIDE YOUR HOUSES BACK TO THE COMMON ROOMS!” commanded Dumbledore.

“The Slytherin common rooms are in the dungeons!” stated Harry into the ensuing silence. Dumbledore glared at him. Lowering his Occlumency shields just a bit, Harry let Dumbledore catch a glimpse of his thoughts. _Do you really want me to repeat my threat in front of everyone present? I could you know, unless you let the students stay here, in the Great Hall, where they are the safest._

He felt Dumbledore probe deeper. On the outside, Harry stayed emotionless, on the inside he grinned savagely. He let Dumbledore into some memories of his time at the Dursleys’, causing the headmaster to feel the pain, fear and helplessness Harry had felt. The boiling rage these memories brought forth, the insanity that was created by them, the mindless haze which put him into his feral state, all that he pushed onto Dumbledore, letting the man drown in the Darkness that Harry had to keep at bay every single day.

The short pause in the twinkle let Harry know that the old man had seen what he wanted him to see. And that Dumbledore knew that Harry had only shown him what he wanted him to see. They held eye contact for a few more seconds, allowing the rest of the students to realize that there was something going on.

A lot more quiet than before Dumbledore wheezed: “On second thought, let all students stay in the Great Hall with some of the teachers. The Head of the Houses, please follow me.”

Once the search party for the troll had left, the doors of the hall sealed themselves. With a relieved collective sigh the students started to mingle. Blaise shook Harry – who was still staring at the spot previously occupied by Dumbledore - by his shoulders. “What did you do to the old goat?”

Harry let his savage grin show. “I showed him what I showed you.”

Blaise shuddered. He had tried once to sneak into Harry’s dreams after their first meeting. It had not ended well. But it had impressed Blaise enough to give Harry a chance to become his friend. Yet Blaise knew he would never enter a dream of Harry’s willingly again.

“Why did you convince him to le the whole student body stay in the Great Hall?”

“For two reasons: I doubt that Quirrell would have run up all the way from the dungeons only to then faint in the Great Hall and faint in a manner that is completely unnatural. I do not know why he did that but I believe the troll is neither in the dungeons, nor did it manage to get in here alone. Ergo it was probably Quirrell himself who let the troll in. Why though, I can only guess. But with the way things have been going lately I believe it has to do something with a certain corridor on a certain floor. Secondly, with this many students it’s easier to sneak out.”

“There’s a troll out there! Why would you want to sneak out?”

“Daphne and Hermione don’t know of the troll.”

Blaise paled.

“Go get everyone.” Harry whispered as one of the Prefects drew near. “Meet me at the portraits at the end of Slytherin table.” The incubus muttered something about “not wanting to be an errand boy”, which earned him a glare.

Not even two minutes later the group was gathered in front of an empty portrait. Harry pushed in aside and waved the group into the room behind the frame. The portrait fell back into place behind them, leaving the room in complete darkness.

“Lumos!” whispered Theo. Harry stepped to the far end of the small chamber where a snake head poked out of the stone.

“I as Heir to Slytherin ask for safe passage to the second floor for me and my companions.” He hissed in Parsel.

“Your wish is my command.” Replied the snake.

The wall opened up to reveal a water like sheen, which gave view to a second floor corridor. “Step through.” Harry told his friends, before walking through the water. Hesitantly his friends followed. The travel was a bit unpleasant. It was like taking a step only for the floor to do a 360° turn. But it was fast, direct and completely untraceable.

“What was that?” asked Cedric who looked a bit green. “Give us a warning next time.”

“Sorry, I did not know it would be this unpleasant. Salazar told me that each of the Founders have developed a passageway out of the Great Hall for their heirs and anyone clever enough to find them. What we just used was the Slytherin path. I know where to find the Gryffindor one but we would have needed to cross the hall for that.”

Before Harry could explain more, a disgusting smell assaulted the group. Harry turned to Blaise: “Told you the troll isn’t in the dungeons.”

They sneaked towards the girl’s restroom.

“Weird.” Noted Fred.

“Yes The gateway…” continued George.

“Spit us out…”

“Barely 20 feet away from the girl’s bath.” They both chorused.

“I’ll have to ask Salazar about that some time.” Agreed Harry. They reached the bath door. The smell had become stronger and they heard heavy foot steps down the hall way.

Daphne and Hermione where leaning against the ring of sinks in the centre of the room. Surprised at the newcomers they bombarded them with questions: “What are you doing here? This is a girl’s bathroom! What is going on? Why are you looking so scared?”

“We could ask you the same. Why are you here? There is a troll running around and we came to get you.”

“What?” screeched a shell-shocked Daphne.

The doors flew open. The troll stood in the doorway, its club dragging over the floor. With a swing it tore down one of the double doors. Everyone turned to Harry.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” he asked uncomfortably.

“Well, you are kind of the leader?” asked Fred.

Harry gaped at them: “Since when am I the leader?” he hissed back, slowly crowding the group behind the sinks, so that the troll would not see them if it did not step further into the room.

“Since you started doing that.” Answered George.

“Doing what?” said Harry while he gestured to Cedric to put disillusion charms over himself, Theo and the girls.

“Protecting us.” Answered a now invisible Hermione.

“Why did I not get a disillusion?” whined Blaise.

“Because you are neither unable to fight, nor are you emotionally distraught.”

“Neither is Cedric.” Complained Blaise.

“Well, but we need someone to protect them if we get mugged by the troll.” Harry explained while he continued to crawl around the pillar of sinks, avoiding getting into the trolls sight.

“This is the plan, we will continue our way around the pillar until we have our backs to the entrance. Then Cedric’s group will leave and get a teacher. Blaise, you secure the entrance. If the troll does come for you, do not hesitate to use Dark Arts to stop it. Fred, George, try to lure it into the gate way with the stalls.”

Everything went smoothly up to the point where the troll had cornered the twins in a toilet stall. Searching with his winds, Harry found that the escapee group, now accompanied by Professors Snape and McGonagall, would not be there in time. But, having feared that development, a plan was already zooming into focus in his mind.

Using his winds to jump on the sink pillar, he screamed at the troll. Incidentally the first thing that came to mind was “Hey, fuck face!”

\---WARNING THIS IS QUITE VIOLENT, Harry isn’t a naïve lion but a ruthless snake, so expect some blood---

 

 

The troll did not react, advancing on the twins. Harry pulled out his dagger. He had not used the diamond blade since coming to Hogwarts, there had been no need. Focusing on the troll’s head he threw. The troll made a sudden movement, causing the dagger skinned off the skin on the back of its head. With an enraged roar the troll charged towards Harry.

Its arms made a brag at him. Harry jumped, using the troll’s shoulders as support, he did a somersault, landing on his feet a metre behind the troll. Keeping his eyes on the creature, he waved at Fred and George to get behind him.

The troll charged again. Harry pulled at the winds, tripping the attacker. The winds pulled also on Fred and George, floating them over the troll towards the exit, where Blaise was still standing, wand at the ready. Harry himself ran towards the end of the stalls, towards his dagger that had been imbedded into the wall.

He heard the troll get up behind him. Pulling at the dagger, twisting it around to free it from the stone. The troll took a step towards him. Apparently this troll was immune to basilisk poison. Cursing Harry gave the weapon one last tug, finally freeing it from the stone. The troll grabbed him but before the arm could close around him, Harry rammed the dagger into the troll’s shoulder. Letting himself fall, he all but severed the troll’s arm off. Harry landed smoothly and used his momentum to roll down the pile of rubble towards the sinks. Sliding on the wet ground, he stood right between troll and his goal by the time the troll charged towards him again.

With its appendage hanging uselessly at his side, the troll took another swing with the club. He saw his wand poke out between the remains of the stalls. He would not reach it in time, even when using his winds. Time to rely on wandless magic then. Stretching out his right hand he screamed: “Reductio!” turning the wooded weapon into a cloud of sawdust. The resulting shockwave of the curse threw Harry against the sinks.

Gathering his magic between his palms, Harry let the troll come towards him again. When it was but a few feet away he released the power, screaming: “Stupefy!” to channel more power into it.

 

 

\---OKAY fight scene is over ---

With a sickening gurgle the troll sank down, landing face first into the tiles in front of Harry’s shoes. Groaning from the pain (he got thrown against a marble pillar for Merlin’s sake, cut him some slack) he pulled himself up on the sinks into a standing position. With carefully measured steps he retrieved his wand from the rubble and walked back to the troll whilst cleaning his wand with his sleeves.

As soon as he reached the troll, Professor Snape stormed into the room. His Professor stared at the troll, then at Harry and back to the troll again. That process repeated for about ten seconds before his teacher finally fixed his eyes on Harry. Raising his eyebrows Snape’s expression was somewhere between disapproving and unbelieving. Then he said:

“Part of me wants to ask. The other part says that knowing, will be more disturbing than anything I could ever imagine. So I’m going to escort all of you back to the tower, award all of you ten points each for slaying the troll and we will never talk about any of this again, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

_“Paper Planes” by Two Steps from Hell (from “Illumina”)_

Daphne hurried along the hallway. She had woken up on this splendid Saturday morning only to find her friends neither at breakfast nor anywhere else. Finally a house elf had appeared, handing her a letter that told her to come to the seventh floor. There she would find a door opposite of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. And there she would meet her friends.

She opened the door. There was a light flooded room, with thousands of paper planes covering the ground. Her friends sat on the other end of the room, folding even more paper planes. Confused, she let the door fall shut behind her. That caught the group’s attention.

She stepped towards them, her foot landing on one of the paper planes. Winds gently pushed her back to the door. Daphne stared at the group expectantly.

It was Cedric who explained everything: “It’s easy. You have to charm your way through the paper planes by levitating them. Once you have charmed them to fly, Harry will keep them afloat. All the while we will keep making new planes to throw in your way. However if you step on one single plane, you’ll have to start again and Harry will let all of your previously charmed planes fall.”

Daphne looked at them with heavy disapproval normally reserved for the likes of Pansy Parkinson and Lavender Brown. She demonstratively stepped onto another paper plane. Again the wind pushed her back to the door. With a groan Daphne pulled out her wand.

It took hours. It was exhausting. It was at times frustrating. But once she got the hang of it, it was fun. And also very satisfying to see how the paper planes danced around her. Yes, this was wonderful. She definitely could get used to this method of learning. Especially when Professor Flitwick awarded her extra points in the next Charms lesson for having managed to overcome her difficulties.

_“The Swashbuckler and the fair Maiden” by Future World Music (from a trailer for “How to train your Dragon”)_

“Scared, Emrys-LeFay?” asked a cocky looking Flint, though some true concern was in his voice.

“No, just very, very excited. And maybe a bit nervous.” Admitted Harry.

“Don’t be.” said Pucey, one of the chasers. “You’ll stomp Potter into the ground. We will win.”

Harry nodded.

Then the commentator called them onto the field. Once he was out of the cabin, all nervousness fell off of Harry. This was like training, all he had to do is catch the snitch as fast as he always did. Letting himself get distracted by the audience was counterproductive. He had come here to win. And he would.

“Captains, shake hands!” commanded Madam Hooch. Flint (who had insisted that the team called him Marcus) and Wood, the Gryffindor Captain and Keeper, shook hands. Though to Harry it looked like they were trying to break each other’s bones.

“Damn, that is some fine unresolved sexual tension.” He muttered.

“I know right?” grinned Pucey. Then he snapped his head towards Harry: “Wait, how do you, an eleven year old kid, notice? Let alone know what to call it?”

“I am exposed to a much stronger version of UST on an almost daily basis at home.”

“Oh, right your parents.”

“How did you get Snape to talk?”

“Bats are weak against noise.”

“Evil, positively evil.”

Madam Hooch gave a sharp whistle and both teams pushed off of the pitch. Harry soared high above the other players as the struggle for the Quaffle began. Looking for any glint of gold, Harry lost track of anything else but his search and watching out for Bludgers.

So it quite surprised him to see Daniel Potter hanging one-handedly off of his broom. By the looks of it, somebody was cursing the broom. A student would not be able to do this…Harry quickly scanned the teacher’s stand for any sign of abnormalities (his only rival was out of commission right now anyways).

There, both Quirrell and Snape were muttering something, staring at the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry charged towards the stand, blocking the view of Quirrell towards the Gryffindor Seeker. Almost instantly the boy regained control of his broom. Harry took that as his Signal to go after the Snitch again. He saw his ex-brother coming from the other side, dammit, Daniel was closer to the Snitch. They both had a Nimbus 2000, so overtaking him with speed alone was not possible. Using his winds to become faster would also help Daniel to speed up…

The snitch did a sharp turn, whizzing towards the ground. Harry dived after it. Daniel was still in front of him and this time it did not seem like his brother would slip from his broom.

Harry let go of his broom, falling, he gained an advantage over Daniel. But the Snitch was too fast. So Harry once more used the winds stop himself from falling and summoned his broom to him. Pushing off of the wooden walls surrounding the Pitch, he once more was in the lead. Then he felt something pulling him back.

Daniel was holding the rear end of his broom. Instinctively Harry pushed his winds against his rival, but it was useless, Potter had a vice grip on his broom. So Harry called the winds back and used his broom as leverage to jump high into the air. From the corner of his eyes he saw the snitch soar into the skies. With the skills Marcus had drilled into his mind, Harry’s hand closed around the snitch.

For one moment he let himself float in the air until he finally let himself sink slowly onto the grass. The Slytherin fan curve was ecstatic. His team was practically strangling him with their victory hugs. From afar he thought he could see the twins do a little victory dance.

Yes, for this one moment he forgot about his worries and rejoiced in the simple perfection of his win.

But that moment ended when he saw the Golden Trio follow Hagrid towards the Ground Keeper’s hut. Excusing himself Harry followed the three under a disillusion charm (after the whole troll fiasco he had Cedric teach him how to do it himself).

What he heard shocked him…

_“The Extraordinary Mr Wildermuth” by Confidential Music (because the title is just that good)_

When they met that night after dinner, Harry told them of what he overheard: “The Golden Trio think it was Snape who jinxed Daniel’s broom. I know for a fact that it was Quirrell. The Ground Keeper also said that it’s his Cerberus guarding the third floor. And lastly, whatever is hidden up there has something to do with Nicholas Flamel.”

The rest of the group looked at each other. Then Cedric spoke up: “What do you want us to do?”

“Theo, Hermione, I ask you to hit the library. Any little piece of information might be useful. Blaise, get into contact with your mother, she has lived long enough to know something and the Black library may hold some knowledge. Fred, George, follow the actions of the Trio, become their shadows if you have to, I want to know how much they find out, who knows? It might even spare us some research. Daphne, please follow Quirrell’s actions, but be careful, the man is probably about as harmless as a fully grown Nundu.”

“So basically, you expect us to stalk some people?”

““Stalking” is such a strong word. I prefer “intense research of an individual”.” Harry said.

“Wait a minute, what will I be doing?” asked Cedric.

“Nothing. I won’t do anything either. Although you may want to look into some darker magic. The Arts are not evil, so maybe it would help you understand our actions better when you look it up. But you don’t have to, of course.” Harry said.

Long after the group had bid each other good night and long after Harry had fallen onto his bed, he was still lying on his bed. The full moon shone through his window bathing everything in a blue-silver light. It was nights like these Salazar had often warned him about. Clear full moon nights had caused them both prophetic dreams more often than not. Most of the time they stayed up together on such nights, keeping each other from sleeping. Because dreaming snippets of coming events made the outcome itself change. And besides he did not want to know what the future held. That would make the present so very boring.

TBC


	10. “Science” by Two Steps from Hell (from “Miracles”)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouroboros is the snake that bites itself into its own tail (for those who didn’t know that before)
> 
> And I really would like you to leave a comment.

Christmas came around faster than expected with the research having turned up next to nothing new about Flamel. No book in the library held any information and Angiola had not replied to Blaise’s letter. The Golden Trio was stuck in a similar situation, though apparently they had started to get protective of Quirrell, thinking that the DADA Professor was harassed by Professor Snape.

That of course made Daphne’s work a lot harder, since she had to dodge three pesky lions whilst still keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. And there were many suspicious things. For one Quirrell seemed to have conversations with himself and someone he called “Master”. This “Master” was frightening the man enough to bring him to tears. And Snape was on Quirrell’s trail, apparently having put two and two together, knowing that the turban-wearing man wanted to get into the third floor corridor as well.

In the end Christmas arrived and only Blaise, Harry and the twins would be staying for the break. The twins because their parents would not be at home and the two Slytherins because Salazar and Godric had said that the first year Christmas should be spend in the castle. Harry himself had some serious doubts about that, his parents had been hiding something…

On the last school day before the holidays, Hermione had come over to the Slytherin table. “Good luck with your research, you two.”

Blaise groaned “Hermione, you have read through every book in there twice, they have nothing on Nicholas Flamel.”

Hermione leaned forward: “Well, we haven’t looked in the Restricted Section yet. Have a nice Christmas.” The bushy haired girl turned on her heels and practically skipped out of the hall.

“Did she just…?” asked Blaise, staring after her.

“I think so…” mumbled Harry.

Christmas morning was white. Harry woke up with the sun that shone on the lake, bathing Harry’s room in white silver light. The light lit up millions of dust particles, giving the room a nigh ethereal glow. He heard Blaise knock on the door: “Hurry it up, Hadrian! We’ve got to get to the common room! There’s presents! Like tons of presents! Just hurry up already!”

Still in his pyjamas (the rest of Slytherin had gone home for the holidays), Harry stumbled into the common room only to collapse onto the sofa near the roaring fire. Draping his upper body over the armrest of one couch, he watched Blaise jump around the Christmas tree, screaming “mine” and launching for presents at random intervals.

“How are you even able to function? It’s way too cold. Normally you would be clinging to anything even remotely warm…” In his excitement the incubus ignored him of course. He kept on stapling his gifts onto a ginormous pile. That was when Harry noticed it, Blaise’s creature markings (all creatures had them when in their human form) were rather prominent, the onyx tribal tattoos dancing on his friend’s skin.

Then it clicked, Blaise’s excitement, him being up before Harry, his boundless energy despite the cold, the tattoos that normally hid beneath Blaise’s skin.

“Blaise!” drawled Harry with a deadly voice (read “demonic anime voice”), slowly pushing himself up on the arm rest. That caught the incubus’ attention.

“Wait, Harry, I can explain…”

“Oh yeah?” Harry rose even further from his resting place. Suddenly his arms gave out and he crashed back into the couch again. For Merlin’s sake what had Blaise done? He was way too weak…

“It was so cold, Harry. And I tried to keep away but…”

“What did you do?”

“Not much. You were having a nightmare. And I tried to help you. But I slipped into your dream and when it all calmed down it was so warm and cozy and I…”

“You fell asleep.”

“Yes…I’m sorry.”

“It’ll be fine. Just tell me next time when you have troubles with the cold. It’s not like I would not help you…”

Blaise lit up. “Since you cannot move right now, how about I hand you your presents? Presents!”

Harry shifted, so that he laid on his back. His friend was chasing around the Christmas tree again, collecting the gifts for Harry. Meanwhile a house elf brought Harry some Jasmin tea (a mild blend that he preferred over the bitterness of Earl Grey) and a few treacle tarts. The first package landed on his lap.

“From Sirius and me.”

“Ah, thank you. Yours should be the one with the bronze wrapping.”

They both unwrapped the presents at the same time. Harry silently smiled, never one to express his emotions outwardly. His best friend and his godfather had bought him a broom maintenance set, something he had need for some time now.

Blaise stared at the small black box that had been hidden under the wrapping. With a soft noise he clicked it open. Inside on a black satin pillow rested a single earring. The hook connected with a silver ring with a black net inside of it. In the middle of the net hang a small jade bead. A white feather hung on the other end of the ring.

“A dream catcher?” Blaise asked incredulously.

“Not any ordinary dream catcher. It prevents you from falling into dreams involuntarily. The net is made off of mine, Sirius’ and Angiola’s hair, powered by the runes on the jade bead. That way it can only be used by you and the enchantments are stronger. The white feather collects the trapped dreams. Once it turns completely black you’ll have to change it, otherwise the catcher will not work as well anymore.”

“So...you made this.”

“Yes.”

“For me?”

“Well, for who else would I need to make one?”

Harry expected a lot of reactions from Blaise. He did not expect to be tackled by his friend in a bone crushing hug. “Thank you.” Whispered Blaise, over and over.

“I only did what needed to be done. You don’t have to exaggerate it.” Harry muttered, humbled by his friend’s open joy.

“If you say so…” Blaise agreed, though his tone clearly conveyed that he did not think like that at all.

Blaise turned back and restarted opening his presents, Harry did the same. From Hermione he got a new quill set, another thing he had needed for quite some time. He hoped she would like his book on the different traces magic left.

Theo had sent him ouroboros cufflinks, you could open them by pulling mouth and tail apart. Classy and fitting for his title. Harry dearly hoped that the Runes book he had gifted Theo with was as well received.

Daphne’s present was a book on Dark Arts that was rare to come by. Harry, having known of this present beforehand, had made her an elaborate hand fan from peacock feathers. Of course it was no ordinary fan, it was riddled with protection charms, some of them he had Salazar put on for good measure.

Angiola had gotten him a book on Alchemy. Harry had never considered this subject of magic before as it had been replaced by the much faster and precise arithmantical system. However this book looked old and just like you would expect a book of magic to look like. Harry wondered if its pages would also glow, like shown in some muggle movies.

Finally there were only five small boxes left. One was white with a red dragon, one a matte black with a shiny black raven, one was opalescent with a triangular symbol on it, one was crimson red with a golden lion and the last one was pine green with a silver snake.

“Are those…?” Blaise’s voice trailed off.

“Yes. The Heir Rings. Except this one.” He pointed to the opalescent box. “That is the Peverell Lord Ring. Since there is no Lord and I am the only heir it would be kind of pointless to wear the Heir Ring.”

“Don’t you receive the Heir Ring on your eleventh birthday?”

“Nowadays. Originally it was either on the seventh or thirteenth birthday. We wanted to wait until I was thirteen but apparently my parents saw it suitable to give them to me earlier. Probably because everyone else has them.”

“In Magic’s name, just open them! I want to see what they look like!” exclaimed Blaise.

Harry opened the LeFay box first. The ring was a simple onyx band with silver Celtic patterns. The Emrys ring was similarly simple, it was a moonstone band with golden runes on it, which declared him the Heir of Emrys. The Gryffindor ring was a dark gold band that formed into a lion head that held a ruby in its mouth. The Slytherin ring was a silver wire formed like a snake that circled his finger a few times. Lastly he opened the Peverell box.

The ring was golden yet rather simple. It held a black shiny stone. The same triangular symbol as the one on the box was engraved into the stone.

A note was pinned to the lid. Recognizing Salazar’s neat handwriting he pulled it out and read:

_Dear Harry,_

_First of all I wish you a merry Christmas, son. Let it be known that your presents for Yule were well received. Godric simply adored the Netflix abonnement (who would have thought that the possibility of watching his favourite series and movies over and over again would delight him so much?). And I am most grateful for the curse detecting letter opener you gifted me with. It is a great help with all the paper work for the Wizengamot and the Ministry._

_I sent you the Heir Rings as Angiola informed me that the rest of the Slytherins get theirs on their 11 th birthday or when they start Hogwarts. Knowing how harsh the Hierarchy can be I thought it prudent to give your house mates a simple reminder of who walks among them._

_However I must warn you:_

_The Peverell Ring is one of the fabled Deathly Hallows, the Stone of Resurrection. We found it defiled in the Gaunt Shack, a soul shard of Voldemort inside it. But rest assured that the Horcrux has been removed. It still has the powers Death has given it so long ago. So please, my son, be careful and do not let its power lead you into insanity!_

_If you ever feel like it becomes too much of a burden, do not hesitate to ask for help._

_Your father,_

_Salazar Slytherin_

_PS: I and Godric will retrieve your Christmas present (you did not think that we would just give you something that already belongs to you and count it as a gift?) later this day._

_PPS: Godric wishes you a merry Christmas as well, but I forbade him from writing his own letter, as I refused to let him fill expensive sheets of stationary with the nigh illegible scrawl that he calls handwriting._

“One of the Deathly Hallows?” asked Blaise. “And what does he mean by “retrieve”?”

“Oh, never mind that. Salazar has a tendency to be over-dramatic.”

“Hey, there’s another package for you!”

“Really? Let me see…”

_“Soulseeker” by Two Steps from Hell (from “Illusions”)_

The lake inside the cave was completely motionless. The already dim light  - which was reflected from the crystals that stood out of the stone – was swallowed by the water making it seem darker than black. Ghastly white limbs sometimes came close enough to the surface to be seen.

Godric shuddered: “Inferi. And an entire army of them too. No wonder this cave reeks of fiendish magic.”

“I cannot feel the locket, but it was supposed to be here…”

“Calm down Sal, with this many Inferi its magical signature might be overridden by the residue magic in the corpses.”

“Well, how do we get to the island?” Salazar pointed to the middle of the lake where a rock broke through the water. Something on the island emitted a strange green glow.

“There is a boat but I do not think it will hold both of us…”

“I think it would have trouble holding even half of us. This boat does not go by physical weight but my magical power. If even one of us were to step onto it, I have no doubt that it would sink.”

“Which would set the Inferi on us…we cannot apparate in here but I think that there is another way.” Godric grabbed his partner’s hand. Salazar felt his molecules disintegrate in a hot haze. Only for his body to materialize again on the island. He coughed out smoke and ashes.

“What did I say about flaming me anywhere without warning?” he hissed at Godric.

“To not do it?” replied a cheeky sounding lion. Salazar coughed once more.

“Awww, poor Sal, want me to kiss it better?” asked Godric, whose face was definitely way too close to Salazar’s to be appropriate for this kind of situation (What kind of situation again?).

“Hold you silly jokes for later. We have to get around this” he looked around, spotting a stone basin filled with glowing greenish-pearly potion “new barrier…”

Stepping close to the basin, Salazar was able to identify the potion. It was a truly fiendish draught that took the drinker back to their worst moments, fears and regrets. It would also cause an unbearable need to drink.

“Clever, very clever. If you are here alone, it would cause you – in your pain – to drink from the water what would alarm the Inferi. And you have to drink it to get around it…very clever indeed.”

“Okay. I’ll drink it then. You make sure that I don’t drink from the lake.” Said Godric, already starting to sip on a goblet full of the vile potion. Salazar slapped it away, with a loud clang the goblet broke against the rocks.

“Are you out of your mind? Why would you drink that? We only need to-”

“Because drinking is the only way, you already said the one who made this cave, presumably Lord Voldemort himself, was very clever. What makes you think he would not make sure that there was no other way to get to the locket than to drink the potion?”

“Then let me…”

“No way. I can say for sure that it won’t affect me as much as did would affect you. You were abused you entire childhood and I know that some episodes with…our son…still affect you. I however was spoiled all my life, people were always looking out for me. And I do not have any regrets. Except for one and I think I got that one covered. Please, Sal. If you got hurt I…”

“Fine. But if I get the feeling that it’s enough, you will stop!”

“I promise.”

Godric nodded and filled another goblet with the green liquid. And he drank. Soon the goblet was empty and Godric took another one. And another one. And another one. Salazar watched on, conflicted. He saw how the sweat gathered on Godric’s forehead, how his breathing became heavy, how he rubbed his eyes more often and how his always immaculate posture became slumped. Godric was suffering. And he kept his pain locked up, so that Salazar would not stop him.

Finally there was only half a goblet left in the basin. Godric sank against the stone frame. Suddenly a loud gasp broke Godric self-control.

“Please, no not again. I cannot see this happening again…no. Son, please stop this madness! I…no! Not Salazar let him go! Oh god, all that blood…Sal. Sal, I’m sorry. I…argh!”

“Harry! No…not Harry! He is…don’t take my family again. Harry, Sal!” Salazar grabbed the struggling lion. “Sal, Sal I’m sorry. I should have never left you. And I…” A simple sleeping charm was all it took to put Godric to sleep. Salazar spelled some neutralizer into his partner’s body. Also water, lots and lots of water. Then he woke his friend again.

Godric came to with a gasp.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You completely lost it, that’s what happened. We still have half a goblet left in the basin and I am not letting you anywhere near that potion again.”

“And how do you intend to get rid of the rest potion?”

“By drinking it myself…and before you protest, half a goblet will not put me into a delirium of nightmares.”

Drinking the potion was like swallowing raw egg white. He saw the potion induced images flash through his mind before the real world came into focus again. He took a few deep breaths before fishing the locket from the basin.

He frowned. “This is not right.”

“A fake, huh?” commented Godric, looking over Salazar’s shoulder. “Someone must’ve been here before us.”

Gingerly Salazar opened the locket:

_To the Dark Lord_

_I know I will be long dead before you read this,_

_But I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret._

_I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can._

_I face death and hope that when you meet your match_

_You will be mortal once more._

_R.A.B_

“He must have died by an Inferius’ hand. But if we find out what the initials stand for, we might find the person who has the locket now.” Said Godric.

“You are right. He is still here. But this is weird…”

“What is?”

“His magical signature is much stronger. He did not become an Inferius, he must have put himself in some sort of magical coma before they got to him.”

“But the letter says he was expecting to not come out alive of this.”

“It must have been unintentional…”

“Good. Then let’s find him.”

“Pardon?”

“I say we try to find him.” repeated Godric.

“It may has escaped your notice, but there are over four hundred hungry Inferi in that lake. How to do expect us to find the right body.”

“Well first of all it won’t move. So if we eliminate all the moving bodies, the one that’s left must be R.A.B.”

“I don’t think that is a-”

SPLASH

“Godric?”

“Yes?”

“Did you just throw the fake amulet into a lake filled with aggressive moving corpses?”

A hoard of Inferi charged at them. Laughing a bit too manically for Salazar’s taste, Godric set them on fire. The Slytherin groaned. “I guess that answers my question.”

 

 

_10 minutes of unnecessary bloodshed and more than 500 burning corpses later…_

“Okay. I think I managed to get them all. How is your search for R.A.B. going?” Godric asked cheerfully (he tended to get a bit high on adrenaline after a fight). The cave was a mess. The fire had vaporized the water of the lake, turned the Inferi into useless piles of charcoal and was still lighting the cave in an infernal golden light.

“Well, thanks to your little display, the cave is dripping with your magical signature.” Salazar sneered. Under normal circumstances he would have found the thought of Godric’s magic surrounding them more than comfortable, but right now it was irritating.

“Well, you have to look no longer, I have found him.” Salazar turned around to see Godric holding up the only uncharred body. Salazar stepped closer, brushing black hair out of the stranger’s face, he did a double take.

“Wow that is some family resemblance. He looks like a younger version of Sirius.”

“Of course…R.A.B. Regulus Arcturus Black. Sirius told us that his brother was a Death Eater but that he probably got killed during the war.” Gently Salazar lifted the sleeve of the left arm. The Dark Mark, frozen and nigh invisible was revealed.

“He is dying, Sal. I can feel it. He only has a few days if not mere hours left. If we transport him somewhere that would definitely kill him.”

“I know. There is a spell that could regenerate him but…I would need his consent for it to take hold.”

“I could…”

“No! You promised you would never use that gift again!”

“It would only be for a few minutes. Not much.”

“But you are weakened!”

“My fire took down most of the wards, once you are done you can apparate us into St. Mungo’s.”

“Fine. But if this gets you killed, I will drag you back from hell and kill you over and over again.”

“You would have to get in line for that. Harry called dibs on doing that already. I swear, this kid is too much like you.”

“Nonsense…Now hurry before I change my mind!”

Godric closed his eyes. The fires all around the cave seemed to burn a little lower as Godric pushed some of his magic into Regulus’ limp body. The young man (almost still a boy) woke with a gasp of pain. Salazar pressed a calming hand onto the Black’s forehead.

“Calm down, Regulus. We do not mean any harm.”

“Am I dead? Is this hell?”

“No, you are alive but barely. I can heal you, however, it would reverse time for your body. You would also lose all memory of your past seven years, meaning you would return to you eleven year old self. Would you use that opportunity or would you prefer to die. You still have a few hours left. We could get your brother here, if you wish us to.”

“I know this is selfish but I don’t want to die. I have so many regrets that I long for a second chance.”

“That is neither selfish nor irrational. Now, close your eyes and when you wake up, you will be at home.”

“Wait, before I forget you, would you please let me know your name?” asked Regulus, already using consciousness.

“Salazar Slytherin.” Replied the same with a smile.

_“The Briefcase” by James Horner (from “The amazing Spiderman”)_

The fabric was silvery and fluid. Silky and unlike anything Harry had ever touched. A letter fell from the cloak. Looking at Blaise, Harry picked it up.

_Dear son,_

_It is right now the Christmas of you first year a Hogwarts. As tradition of the House of Potter demands it, it is today that you receive this family heirloom that has been in our family since the time we were still Peverells. What you have before you is the final of the Deathly Hallows, Death’s Cloak that will grant the rightful owner absolute invisibility._

_I do not know which one of you twins will receive the cloak. I have given it to Steelclaw for safekeeping, knowing that he would be able to decide which of the twins needed it more. I have erased all my knowledge of the cloak from my and Lily’s mind, so that Dumbledore would never find it._

_Giving the cloak away was mainly to keep the Headmaster away from another of the Hallows, as he already carries the Elder Wand. I needed to make sure that the cloak would end up in the hands of the twin who would be shunned by Dumbledore._

_Yes, I know of Dumbledore’s plan. He plans on using the Prophecy to lure Voldemort after us and the Longbottoms. Since you now hold this letter in your hand it means that Voldemort decided to go after us and Dumbledore manipulated as all into thinking that your twin is the “Boy-Who-Lived”. Whether or not he rightfully carries that title is another thing altogether._

_But if one of you is reading this right now, it also means that nothing of me is left in this world. My body is but a mere shell of flesh and bones. So I will use this letter to write down what I want you, the twin who was shunned, to know:_

_Rest assured that the true Lily and James Potter loved you and your brother equally and very very much. I can only foolishly hope that your life has not been miserable so far and that you have found other people who care for you, while we cannot._

_If the puppet me is too much of a jackass, just prank him or kneel him in the crotch. He deserves it._

_There is not much more to say, I guess._

_Merry Christmas,_

_Love James Potter, your father who could not be your father_

_PS: That of course is another reason to knell puppet-me in the crotch (or hit him in the sternum, that hurts a lot as well, I would know, I’ve gone through Auror-Training)_

Silent tear smeared the ink of the letter as Harry read on. Sure, he had known that his mother loved him and remembered his father’s affection. But hearing it confirmed in the man’s own words, it was just so reassuring. His biological parents had loved him. And they had wished that he would find a new family. A wish that had come true.

“Hey, it’s alright. This is no crying matter.” Blaise awkwardly hugged him.

“Another Hallow, huh?” Harry raked his fingers through the unique fabric. “We should try it out. Tonight. We can sneak into the Restricted Section!” He exclaimed, realizing that this cloak would make their lives a whole lot easier.

And so it happened that Harry and Blaise were sneaking through the library near midnight. Blaise was guiding the way, having the advantage of night vision. The books in the Restricted Section looked even more eerie at night than in daylight. Carefully they opened a book.

Which promptly started to scream. Letting it fall from the shock a book actually doing something like that (it was not common even in the magical world), Harry and Blaise were alarmed of the nearing caretaker. Before they had shared to cloak to not waste energy on disillusion spells but now they became necessary. While Harry stayed under the cloak, Blaise threw up a disillusion around him.

They snuck between two bookshelves just before Filch passed them. Once the old man entered the Restricted Section they made a run for it, through the corridors until they finally found a door that was not locked. Harry did a few checks, that came up clean, no one was in this room, though there had been just a few minutes ago.

Without any further ado, he pushed Blaise into the room, closing the door behind them. It was an unused empty classroom. The only thing in there was a large golden mirror. Slowly they stepped nearer, letting their camouflage fall off.

“I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” Muttered Harry. Blaise sent him a questioning look. “It’s in mirror.” Explained Harry. “Lo and behold the mirror of Erised. Step in front of it and you may see your deepest most desperate desire.”

“What do you see, Harry?” asked Blaise.

“I see us. And Hermione, Daphne, Theo, the twins and Cedric. I see both sets of my parents, Sirius, Angiola and an amber-eyed man I do not know. I see my family.”

“It’s weird. I see the same, just like you…but it is constantly mixing, like it’s switching channels. Right now I see you and the rest of our group but also a faceless person. They seem to be quite intimate with me…”

“Maybe it’s your mate. Unconsciously you desire them.”

“Hm…Please, let’s just go, this mirror is not only creeping me out, it makes you depressed as well and don’t try to lie, I can smell it on you!”

“You are right. It does us no good to dwell on dreams which we cannot accomplish. Let’s just go to bed.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback?  
> What about the Music Suggestions? Do you use them? Do you think they are fitting?  
> Pairing ideas?  
> What about my writing style? Did it drop so harshly that you cannot comment anymore without using impolite language?  
> This is really bothering me! I did not receive a lot of comments for the last three chapters, so I am kind of worried whether or not I am still on track with this!  
> Please just leave a comment.


	11. “BBC Sherlock Theme” by David Arnold and Michael Price

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is only the Epilogue left now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love.

Winter bled into spring and in between classes, Quidditch and preparing for exams it took Harry until May to finally settle down one weekend and taking the time to read the books he got for Christmas. He opened Angiola’s first, wanting to know more about Alchemy, a topic completely unknown to him.

He absent-mindedly browsed through the table of contents until: “What in magic’s name!” his friends turned to him.

“What’s wrong Harrykins?” asked George.

“Yeah what’s wrong, Harry?” repeated Fred.

Harry held out the book so all of them could read: “Ranking of important Alchemists” then a list of names followed on which’s end stood the name they all had been searching for: “Rank one: Nicholas Flamel, Creator of the Philosopher’s Stone.”

Hastily they turned to the chapter’s beginning. It was a short summary of Flamel’s life and the stone’s properties. Silence followed that revelation.

“So this stone makes incredibly rich and immortal?” asked Theo.

“Yes.” replied the group.

“And it is probably inside this school?” asked Cedric.

“Yes” replied the group.

“With every student knowing where to find it?” asked Hermione.

“Yes.”

“With some ruthless powerful wizard after it?” asked Daphne.

“Yes.”

“Who is probably Lord Voldemort himself?” asked Fred.

“Who in turn is by the looks of it possessing our DADA Professor?” added George.

“Yes and yes.”

“So, the book says that Flamel would let the stone out of sight only over his dead body. So we can assume that this scheme is not approved of by Flamel?” asked Blaise.

“Yes.” Everyone turned to Harry.

“I say we keep this information to ourselves. The dog is most likely not the only thing protecting the stone. However if one of the other parties starts to move, we will after them to attain the stone. In the meantime I guess it would do us no good to keep watching the Golden Trio. With Quirrell the most likely suspect after the stone, I believe we should steer clear of him too.”

“When do you think the parties will start moving?” asked Daphne.

“If I were Voldemort, I would make sure that the one most likely to spoil my plans is as far away from me as possible. In his case it’s Dumbledore. To get Dumbledore out of the school it would take an emergency at the Ministry. He cannot fake a letter, but he can wait until the Wizengamot sessions start again, then the headmaster will need to leave the grounds. The next Gamot meeting is on the last day of the exams. That means we have roughly a month left to find out about the other protections.”

“Well, if my dad’s rants were worth something it is the extensive knowledge I now have about the members of the Wizengamot, including Dumbledore. With all likeliness he created various circles of protection against anyone after the stone, meaning that probably all teachers of the five core subjects have a protection, plus his own, plus the dog.”

“Speaking of Dogs,” Hermione piped up “I researched three-headed dogs. Turns out that they each have their own personal weak point, which means that you have to find each Dog’s tranquilizer until they fall asleep. For example, the first documented Cerberus calmed when given gingerbread, but another dog would only become more aggressive when fed pastries.”

“So we have to find out whom the dog belongs to and then make them trust us, so that they would share their secret.” Reasoned Blaise.

“Yes.” agreed Theo “But who would own a three-headed dog?”

“Hagrid!” the voice of Ronald Weasley carried through the rows of books “What are you doing in the library?”

The octet looked at each other, before silently sneaking towards the end of the shelf they stood behind, to catch a glimpse of the conversation that was commencing. The Golden Trio had apparently found out about the Stone from some library book several weeks ago, which made the octet curse themselves. But apparently the Trio was not looking into matters with the three-headed dog and they also assumed that there were more protections on the stone aside from the dog (which they also confirmed to be Hagrid’s). In the end, the keeper of the keys invited the trio over to his hut, claiming that he wanted to show them something.

On the check-out table, Hagrid handed over several books on dragon care. The twins groaned. When everyone send them questioning glances, they explained in hushed tones: “Hagrid wants nothing more than a dragon and he has a knack for breeding magical creatures. He most likely has somehow acquired a dragon egg that will be hatching soon.”

Cedric made a worried expression: “To who else does this sound like trouble?” he asked. Seven hands went up. Once more everyone turned to Harry who seemed deep in thoughts.

“Harry?”

“I just thought…what if we set Malfoy onto their track. That way they would have to get the dragon out of the school before it can damage anything. And if they try to sneak it out at night and Malfoy knows and they get caught…”

“So you are basically saying that we manipulate Malfoy into revealing the dragon and get them caught.” Blaise deadpanned.

Daphne’s face lit up: “That’s killing two birds with one stone!”

“Wait, why are you guys always so insistent on beating Malfoy into the ground?” asked a concerned Hermione.

Harry’s azure eyes turned icy. “I simply do not like people hurting the ones I hold dear.” He commented and sauntered out of the library.

Hermione looked after him, befuddled. When the others starting leaving as well, Daphne turned to her: “He means you. Malfoy keeps insulting you, something Harry will not forgive until he sees Malfoy completely ruined.”

_“A real friend is someone who defends you in your absence.”_

_Unknown Source_

The next week was spent planning their newest scheme. Hopefully once the participants were in place everything would simply turn out the way they wanted. But the critical point was to get Malfoy to find out without the blonde realizing that he had been set up. And another thing was bothering Harry. Where did the egg come from? How could he approach the topic? Especially since he had never talked to the man in question before?

He kept on brooding over the different strings of the plan that he needed to weave together to make the scheme flawless. He even went as far as to make flowcharts that followed each party’s activities. Until he finally managed to come up with a plan:

“Okay, Fred, George, Cedric. I need you to meet with Hagrid and somehow get it out of him how he got his hands on a dragon egg. Blaise, Theo, I figured out Malfoy’s revision schedule for the upcoming exams, just start to mention how you have seen the Golden Trio sneak around the Ground Keeper’s hut and what a strange light seemed to come at odd intervals. Malfoy is still burning to get revenge on the Golden Trio for the Midnight Duel incident, he will follow any lead that may give them trouble. Daphne, Hermione, I need you to find out what the Golden Trio’s plans are on how to get the dragon out of the castle, so that we can feed that information to Malfoy at a convenient time. Lastly, please run by all information with me so that I can inform Professor Snape of having heard “rumours” that Malfoy is going to sneak out of the common room and how much I am concerned with him loosing us any more house points.”

Grinning from ear to ear they all went to work. Only the twins and Cedric stayed behind for a short moment. “Sometimes I wonder just how he comes up with these plans. And then I remember just who his parents are. It’s strange though. I can get really irritated when being ordered around by someone younger than me, but with him…it feels completely natural…”

“It’s the same…”

“…for us…”

“…but we also know…”

“…that he’ll have our back…”

“…when we need it the most...”

“…remember how he practically…”

“…told his whole life story to Snape…”

“…just so that we could get hall passes?”

Cedric nodded. “I just wonder if it’s the same for the others.”

“I think they get that same feeling of safety from him, at least on a subconscious level. But they all are quite lost in this world and he gives them a path, while always respecting their intel and only giving them tasks that fit their abilities.”

“He truly is a Slytherin in the best possible way…” admitted Cedric.

 

A few hours later a pair of excited twins burst into the library. Harry looked up from his book. Throwing up privacy charms he turned to the twins: “What is it? Did you find out where he got the egg from?”

“Yes and even better, he unintentionally told us how to get past the three headed dog. You have to play him some calming music and he will fall asleep, easy as that.”

Harry smiled, truly smiled. “Great job, you guys!”

_“Mischief Managed!”_

“I am very disappointed in you Mr Potter. And you Mr Weasley. That will be 50 points from Gryffindor for each of you. And 50 from Slytherin as well.”

“But ma’am, I only…”

“Quiet Mr Malfoy. While your intentions may have been “noble”, you too were out of bed after curfew. And all three of you will attend detention. Now, I will summon Professor Snape-”

“No, need Minerva. A student informed me of the incident that would commence tonight. I did heed his warning and found this” the Potion Master held up a generic invisibility cloak “on the top of the astronomy tower.”

“Very well Severus. Could you please escort Mr Malfoy back to his dorm? I will take care of my own…” here she made a pause as if to stop herself from saying something not meant for children’s ears “Students. Good evening.”

It was only after the final footsteps of the departing groups had faded that Harry gently slid out of the invisibility cloak. A satisfied grin stole itself across his features. Slipping under his cloak again Harry started to whistle the “Mission Impossible Theme” to himself. The deed had been done, the scheme had come along more smooth and risk-free than he had dared to hope. And nothing could lead back to them. This truly was a job well done.

_“Down the Hole” by Danny Elfman (from “Alice in Wonderland”)_

“…Professor Dumbledore just left, he received an urgent letter from the Ministry.”

The twins cursed. Cedric pulled the group away before someone caught them eavesdropping. “What now?” he asked.

“Now? We do what we planned on doing. We interfere by going down the trapdoor ourselves. Tonight. But we’ll need preparation…George, Fred, can I borrow the Marauder’s Map?” Wordlessly the twins handed it to him. “And please try to delay the Golden Trio a bit, we need to arrive around the same time, so that we can “offer our help”. Theo, contact mine and Blaise’s parents, we might need their help. No, scratch that we are definitely going to need their help.” He took a look at the map. “Daphne you distract Professor Snape, he is coming this way. Blaise, Hermione, you come with me and Cedric.” Harry pulled the tall brunette down to his level and whispered in his ear “Please make sure that no one gets hurt.” Desperate and worried blue met comforting and reassuring silver: “I will” Cedric replied in a hushed tone. One final nod and all groups went their separate ways.

While leaving, the hall carried this interesting piece of conversation to Hermione, Blaise and Harry:

“Ms Greengrass…What are you doing here all alone? Where are Mr Zabini and Emrys-LeFay?”

“Harry and Blaise are off…doing stuff…sir.”

“I do not like the sound of that…where is Ms Granger? And Mr Nott?”

“They are trying to stop Harry and Blaise from doing stuff.” Lied Daphne.

“And the Weasley menaces?” inquired Snape.

“They are trying to stop Hermione and Theo from stopping Harry and Blaise doing stuff.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To stop you from stopping the twins from stopping Hermione and Theo from stopping Harry and Blaise doing stuff.”

Snape groaned. “Do I really want to know?”

“I don’t think so, sir.”

Soon they were too far away to keep track on the conversation.

They wandered the castle aimlessly whilst trying to prepare themselves for whatever came after the Cerberus. But how do you prepare for something you know nothing of? There only hope on ever surviving the challenge they had been presented with, was that this was a scheme of Dumbledore’s, probably to test Daniel and make the boy seem even more like a hero. Hence the tasks should be possible to pass as a first year student. Hopefully.

Nightfall came too soon for their tastes and with Nightfall came the time to sneak into the forbidden corridor…

The door they found was unlocked. They heard voices from inside. Terrified voices. And the sounds of a slowly waking dog. Jumping into action, Blaise slammed the door open and used music charms to calm the Cerberus down.

“Why are you evil snakes here?” hissed an enraged Ronald Weasley.

“Well, obviously to safe your sorry arses.” Hissed an equally irritated Blaise.

“And if you would take a look around you, you would realize that Hermione is not a Slytherin but a Ravenclaw who came to offer another wand against whatever lies behind the dog.” Explained Harry with a single raise eyebrow.

Daniel perked up at that, turning to Hermione he said: “You came to help us?”

Hermione rolled her eyes: “Scoot. I need to get to the trap door.” After a bit of levitating dog limbs around, she pulled the trapdoor open: “There we go. Now who wants to go first?” she asked.

“I’ll go first.” Daniel volunteered a bit too excited.

“I’ll go second!” added Ronald Weasley.

A bit later, Daniel called upwards: “It’s safe, there is this soft plant thingy.”

One after the other they jumped through the trap door. Harry manipulated the winds to assure a more comfortable landing for his friends. And a good thing he did because under the light of Hermione’s wand, the plant the two Gryffindors had landed on revealed itself to be a Devil’s Snare. And of course the Gryffindors started struggling instead of relaxing and Blaise had to create some enchanted fire to force the plant away.

Grumbling the group went on towards the next room. The flying keys would not have been so tricky, had Daniel not insisted on being the one to catch the key. After his fifth failed attempt at catching it, Harry had enough. Summoning his winds, he called the key into his hand. Ignoring the baffled looks of the two lions, they proceeded to the next room.

_“The World is Mind” by Two Steps from Hell (from “Skyworld”)_

The chess game had been a trip to hell and back. Now Ron was lying on the floor, with Daniel hunched over his form. “Do you want to go back?” Hermione asked gently.

“No, I promised Ron I would go on. I have to. I…”

“Alright.” Agreed Blaise. “We will get him to the Infirmary, you and Harry go on, it should not be that much longer until the chamber with the Stone.”

Awkwardly Harry and Daniel followed Blaise’s suggestion and stepped through the door. A horrible smell welcomed them. A dead troll laid on the ground of the room.

“Seems like Snape was already here.” Said Daniel.

“Wait? You think Snape is after the Stone?”

“Who else? He is always scurrying around like an overgrown bat and he tried to kill me by jinxing my broom!”

“I know for a fact that Quirrell was the one hexing your broom.”

“Quirrell, no way! He is too afraid of…anything.”

“You don’t have to believe me. Just don’t get in my way.” Replied Harry in a bored tone.

The next room was filled with potions. Flames went up at both doors. “Looks like we are trapped.” Observed Daniel.

“No shit Sherlock.” Murmured Harry, moving towards the table. A sheet of parchment laid between two bottles. Looking at the riddle written on it, Harry walked past the line of bottles, looking for the one that would take him through the flames on the other side.

After what seemed like hours to him he pointed to the smallest bottle: “That one. It will take you to the last room.”

Daniel turned to him: “How do I know that you are not feeding me poison?”

“I can go before you if you want to. But there is the possibility of the bottle not refilling.”

“Then what bottle would take me back through the flames?” asked Daniel. Harry pointed to the biggest bottle.

“You take that one! I will deal with Snape alone!” Daniel downed the bottle and sprinted through the flame door.

With a shrug Harry did as he was told and went back to the troll room. Then he waited for a bit and re-entered the Potions Room, he knew that the bottles must have refilled after some time, since Quirrell clearly had gone through before them. Drinking the smallest bottle, he stepped into the final room.

_“Gotham’s Reckoning” by Hans Zimmer (from “The Dark Knight Rises”)_

Quirrell stood before the Mirror of Erised. Next to him an unconscious and tightly bound Daniel. “Ah, Mr Emrys-LeFay. I was wondering whether you would join us.”

“Well, Mr Quirrell, or rather what is left of him…”

“When did you notice?” asked a curious, high-pitched voice.

“I merely guessed. But you just confirmed my suspicion.”

“Good for you kid. It won’t help you much though.” With a whip-lash movement ropes shot out of Quirrell’s wand. Harry ducked behind a pillar. More rope followed. Glimpsing from behind the pillar, Harry saw Quirrell’s turban fall.

“You cannot run forever, Harry Potter!” screamed Voldemort. A misshapen face, protruding from the back of Quirrell’s head. Enraged, Harry sent his winds after the man. The wind blades cut through his opponent’s robes, leaving bloody gashes.

“That is not my name anymore.” Harry said coldly.

“Very well, seems like you can be of use to me still.” Suddenly Harry felt his legs move against his wishes. It was not the Imperio curse but something merely forcing his nerves to obey. Something he could not shake off.

“Now, boy, I want you to look into the mirror and tell me what you see.”

Harry saw himself surrounded by his family. Salazar was leaning down a bit, letting a red stone glide into Harry’s pocket. At the same time Harry felt the stone fall into his real pocket as well. So that was the trick. You were only supposed to want to find the stone, but not use it. A category Voldemort did not fit into.

“I asked you a question!” hissed Voldemort.

“I see my deepest desire. Which is logical since that is the whole point of the Mirror.” Retorted Harry.

“Go away!” hissed Voldemort. Harry slowly stepped backwards. Then Voldemort screeched.

“I CANNOT SEE THE STONE ANYMORE! YOU DIRTY LITTLE!” He grabbed Harry’s throat slowly squishing his wind pipe. Where Voldemort touched him burning pain seared through Harry. He gasped ragged breaths of air. He felt blackness overtake his vision. No, he had to fight, he had to…had to…

Just before he was about to lose consciousness he felt gentle hands pry away the ones strangling him. Harry heard shouted curses in the back.

“Harry! Harry! Stay with us!” His vision focused just enough to let him see green eyes and red hair before his mind finally shut down, drowning him in soothing blackness.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, anyone want the 2nd year sequel to this story? Then comment to let me know.


	12. Epilogue – “What are you going to do when you are not saving the world?” by Hans Zimmer (from "Man of Steel")

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is just a wrap up for the year, so it is really short.

Slowly Harry felt his mind rise from sleep. He laid in a comfortable bed, white-golden sunlight surrounding him. Bandages were covering his hands and neck, where he had come into contact with Quirrell’s skin.

“Well, good morning.” Said Salazar “You just missed Godric. He went down to the Great Hall to join the others for breakfast.”

“What happened?” Harry pressed out, still feeling dizzy. “How long have I been here?”

“You have been here for a week. Yesterday was the End of Year Feast. As for what happened… Quirrell, or rather, Voldemort was strangling you. Some sort of magical protection activated and practically burned the man alive. I do not know where that came from but I have some theories. We arrived just in time to pry the charred body off of you and you went out like a light after that.”

“Do any other people know what happened?”

“Well your friends, most of the Ravenclaws and the entirety of Slytherin House know what really happened. The official version however states that Daniel Potter heroically saved the stone which is why Dumbledore saw it fit to award Gryffindor enough house points to win the House Cup. And having realized the threat it posed to society, Nicholas Flamel decided to destroy the stone.”

Harry chuckled mirthlessly “Nicholas Flamel has been most likely dead for about a year, Dumbledore removed the stone from the vault without the necessary authorization. As for its destruction…” Harry used his winds to pull his robe from the chair next to Salazar. Fishing around in the pocket, he pulled out the blood red stone. “The mirror only gave the stone to someone who wanted to find it, not use it. Dumbledore used the Mirror of Erised’s original enchantments, so that the mirror would slip the stone into the searcher’s pocket. However Dumbledore could not find the Stone since all of my pockets are secured with anti-detection charms.”

“What do you intend to do with it?”

“I think taking it to Gringotts is the best way of action. If Flamel is by any chance still alive, he’ll want it back.”

“I’ll do that and you rest some more. Oh and…” Salazar fished something shiny out of his robes, tossing it to Harry. “Your Christmas present. Some things happened, so I never got to send it to you.”

“Some things?”

“I’ll tell you when we get home.”

Harry watched Salazar leave the room. With a frown he stood up as well. After all he had slept for a week, staying in bed for even another minute seemed like a nightmare.

He found Hermione coming from the library, together they walked down to the Great Hall, where the students were gathering for the train ride back to London.

“So, how does it feel?”

“How does what feel?”

“Well, from what I’ve heard you just about saved the world from another Wizarding War.”

“I guess I don’t feel any different. I did not even do all that much…”

“Whatever floats your boat.” Hermione shook her head amusedly. “So, what are you going to do when you are not saving the world?” She asked in a teasing tone.

By now they had reached the court yard, having passed the Great Hall. A loud scream interrupted their conversation. “HADRIAN EMRYS-LEFAY! DIDN’T I TELL YOU TO STAY IN BED!?!”

Harry chuckled. “I’ll just do what I always do.” He winked at Hermione before pushing of the ground, leaving gravity behind.

 

See you in 2nd year!

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, this is pretty important if you read it now you will not have to do so again:  
> 1.I am always messing with the time line, for my convenience but it is not going to be very important for the story.  
> 2.I NEED comments, I will reply to every single one of them.  
> 3.If you have got critique, hand it out bluntly, but do not become insulting.  
> 4.See any untagged triggers, references or characters, comment, I will fix it.  
> 5.Please comment on any inconsistencies/similarities to others in the plot, spelling and grammar errors I have missed, I will fix that as well.  
> 6.Ideas for pairings are always welcome, though I cannot promise that they will turn up in this story.  
> 7.I need to learn how to write one shots, so you can request them as of now.


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